The uprising
by top
Summary: During a fairly routine mission team seven stumbles across a plot that could threaten to destroy not only Konoha but the entire ninja way of life. Takes place before Sasuke's defection.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

The jounin Captain and the three genin members of team seven made their way up a narrow dirt path which was leading them to a small outpost town, which they would be staying that night. Though calling it a town was being generous. It only consisted of a small inn, a restaurant and about seven homes.

Despite the town size it represented two things to team seven; the first and most important for them was that they would not have to make their own dinner. The second was it meant their mission was almost over; tomorrow they would be leaving the Land of Honey and reentering the Fire country. After that they would only have to do one more thing to finish their mission. Which was to drop off their message and then they could return to Konoha.

Naruto broke the uneasy silence that they had been traveling in. "Kakashi sensei why do we have to do such a boring mission, all we're doing is bringing one message to an old man from another old man," said Naruto as he put his hands behind his head and gave his sensei a disgruntled look?

"Naruto do not refer to the daimyo of the Fire country as an old man its disrespectful" said Sakura as she proceeded to hit Naruto upside the head.

With a sigh Kakashi said, "I'll explain" as he glanced away from his book, "it is customary for a genin team to deliver any official communications between the Fire Countries daimyo and any other countries daimyo. It doesn't matter that our village is still recovering from the recent attack. We cannot give the impression to anyone that anything is different it doesn't matter if their friend or foe." Kakashi finished speaking in the tone of someone who had been answering the same question for several days.

"That doesn't explain why we have to do it. We should be protecting a daimyo's daughter or hunting down a missing ninja," Naruto whined.

"Just be thankful we got a mission that is impossible for you to screw up," said Sakura though inner Sakura was beginning to agree with Naruto.

"Hey I was awesome on the last mission. Those grass ninjas didn't stand a chance against me" Naruto said turning his head to face Sakura.

"The way you make it sound Sasuke and I weren't even there" Sakura said as she glanced over at Sasuke hoping that he would join in the conversation and break his silence.

Looking on Kakashi could almost imagine that the tension he had felt within his team had disappeared. However, ever since team seven had returned from their solo mission to the Land of Tea, he had sensed tension within the team. It was different than the usual rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke, which would be normal. Usually by now one or the other would call their rival a name, a few punches might be thrown and that would be the end.

Unfortunately, he thought as he turned his attention back to the latest edition of Icha Icha that had not happened, instead Sasuke was managing to isolate himself even more than usual. This had the result of upsetting Sakura and considering her usual behavior towards Sasuke it had to be something serious. On the other hand Naruto was acting fairly normal for Naruto which meant he probably wasn't the main cause this time.

Not for the first time, Kakashi wished he had arrived at Sasuke's hospital room a few minutes earlier. Maybe if he had then he would have an idea of what exactly was going on with his team. The problem seemed to be circling around Sasuke but beyond that he didn't have a clue.

* * *

Two figures watched the progress of team seven up the path in the shadows cast by the nearby trees. One was a girl who was leaning against a tree; she appeared to be a little older than Sakura. She wore a simple dark green T-shirt and black shorts. Her black hair was shoulder length and was tied into a tight ponytail that rested on her bow which was currently strapped to her back. Her forehead protector was proudly displayed in its correct position. 

She looked over at her 19-year-old companion who was crouched beside her and said, "Do you really believe that we will be able to convince them to help us?" Realizing what she just said could be interpreted as criticism of her sensei plan she quickly added "what I mean is there from Konohagakure and we are from Kumogakure we're not even allies why should they help us?" She finished with a concerned tone in her voice.

He looked up at her with a smirk on his face and said, "Shiori considering the situation, they are not going to have much of a choice in the matter. The only problem I see is if the genin will be of any use to us or just their Jounin." He pulled out his bingo book and handed it over to her "here you're eyes are better than mine. See if you can find out whom our new allies are it would be nice to know before I introduced myself to them."

She took the book from him and started to thumb through it. The bingo book contained information on missing-Nin for the most part. However, it also contained information on notable ninjas from other hidden villages. It was an essential asset to a ninja because it provided information to the owner that they may need if they come across a foreign ninja in the field. The entries in the book were fairly basic their name and description of the techniques used, bloodline information if they had one and a photograph or a sketch of their face. She really wasn't expecting to find him most jounin did not rate an entry but, there he wasShe read the entry to herself which was surprisingly extensive and handed the book back to her sensei.

"Hatake Kakashi the copycat ninja," he said with a grimace "guess I'll have to be careful of the jutsu I use around him." Standing he looked at the sky and said, "Shiori tell Otonashi he no longer has to keep the target under surveillance. The sun is setting and only a fool or another ninja would try to navigate these mountains at night."

"Yes sensei," she said and with that they went in opposite directions one to retrieve a comrade and the other to make a temporary alliance.

* * *

The restaurant wasn't good; of course any restaurant that didn't serve ramen wasn't good in Naruto's opinion. The restaurant was small; it only had two tables and a few stools at the counter. The menu had nothing he liked on it, even though he did eat other things on occasion besides his beloved Ramen. This was only because of Iruka sensei and Kakashi sensei urging to include fruits and vegetables in his daily diet. However, even knowing about the importance of good nutrition, he was seriously considering having some of his instant Ramen instead of what they're trying to pass off as food here. 

He looked up from his so-called food to see Sakura sitting across from him. She was picking at her rice, not looking like she was going to eat any more of it. He thought that she still must've been upset that Sasuke had yelled at her in his hospital room. This reminded him to shoot a dirty look at his teammate who was sitting next to her. Who does he think he is upsetting Sakura like that; he would kill for a tenth of the attention she gave that bastard.

Unfortunately, his look went unnoticed because the Uchiha was fully concentrating on eating his dinner. He was about to say something to him, when he saw from the corner of his eye somebody standing in the doorway to the restaurant.

He appeared to be a young ninja wearing a jounin vest, though it was lighter in color than the ones that were worn by the Konoha jounin. He had a kunai holster on his right and left thigh. A light scar was on his right cheek. He was wearing a forehead protector that Naruto couldn't place. He looked fairly unremarkable for a ninja. Naruto was going to ignore him except, he was staring right at them.

The stranger slowly walked over to the table. He stopped an arms length away from the table. He had his hands on his hips and smiled while saying. "Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find Leaf ninjas here." The tone in his voice was overly friendly but at the same time had a smug arrogance about it. Naruto took an instant dislike to him.

After he spoke there was a long moment of silence. It was eventually broken by Kakashi "no, but it is unusual for a Cloud ninja to be this far south aren't you a little far from home."

The Cloud ninja shrugged and said, "Our mission take us where they will. My name is Katsuro Date and my mission is why I would like to talk to you Hatake Kakashi. You see my genin team was assigned the task of catching a ninja who has left our village. He's not anyone important just a blacksmith but, we don't like any of our ninjas to go missing. We followed some information that led us to this country. Apparently, he has set up shop in these mountains and picked up a few more followers than we first thought. So we were hoping that you would team up with us to."

Kakashi interrupted him by saying, "I don't see why you are telling us this it's not our mission. Our villages aren't even allies so, good luck and goodbye" he smiled with his eye as he turned his attention back to his book.

The stranger looked a bit crestfallen having his speech interrupted and being dismissed so abruptly. It took a moment for him to re-compose himself and rebuild his confidence. "Well you see" he took a moment to make sure no one was eavesdropping. He leaned on the table and said, "It's what he's making that not only concerns our village but every hidden village on the continent" he paused here for effect. "He is making forbidden weapons."

Kakashi's only response to this statement was a slightly raised eyebrow but, it didn't draw his attention away from his book. Not really wanting to be drawn back into the conversation he said, "What sort of forbidden weapons?" This caused the Cloud ninja to lean in closer to Kakashi. He whispered a single word that none of the other three sitting at the table could hear.

For a moment, a look that none of his students could recognize expressed itself through Kakashi's eye. The Cloud ninja straightened up and said, "if you're willing to help us. My team has made a camp west of this town by a stream. We only have two days to complete this mission, so please meet us there with your team at dawn. I look forward to seeing you again" and with that he beat a hasty retreat.

All three of his students were staring at him but, Naruto was the first to speak the question that was on all their minds. "So come on sensei what did that guy say to you." He was almost jumping in his seat with excitement, hoping that this latest turn of events may lead to an exciting mission.

Kakashi sighed, seeing his simple D ranked mission turning into at least an A ranked mission he said in a voice that could pass as a whisper "muskets."


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi looked around at his students. He wanted to see what effect the information would have on them. Sakura's expression was a combination of surprise and fear. Sasuke was lost in his thoughts thinking the information over. Naruto didn't seem to comprehend the situation having his, I'm lost but, I'm not going to tell anyone look about him.

After seeing Sakura's reaction Naruto apparently decided he needed to know, "Sensei, what's a musket and why are they forbidden?"

"Didn't you pay any attention in our classes?" Sakura said, as she slammed her hands on the table while standing up. "Sometimes I swear."

"That's enough Sakura," Kakashi said silencing her before she could draw attention to them. "I know you're afraid but that's not a reason to take it out on Naruto." He then turned his attention to Naruto to answer his question.

"I personally have never seen one but it's been described to me as basically a metal pipe which is blocked off on one end. You put gunpowder in it and then a small metal ball. You then ignite the gunpowder which sends the ball out the other end at a speed so fast; you can't track it with your eyes. Not even a Hokage would stand a chance against one."

"If these things are so powerful, why don't we use them?" Naruto asked.

"The answer is a bit complicated, as you probably noticed Naruto, most ninja tools are not used just by ninjas. For example, swords are used by samurais. Kunai are used by many people, though not for their original purpose. The few tools that are exclusively used by ninja serve no purpose to civilians. On the other hand a musket could serve many purposes to civilians such as, hunting and self-defense. So you see if people wanted them they could get their hands on them.

"Also,when you compare the effort it takes to use even, the simplest jutsu or even a weapon, the musket is simple to master.That is why they are not permitted to be made in any country on the continent. If they were permitted our entire way of life would collapse throwing all the nations into chaos" Kakashi finished with a sigh.

"So are we going to help him?" Sasuke said breaking his silence that he had held himself in since they had left Konoha.

"Will meet with him tomorrow whether or not we help is another matter. It will depend on the details of the mission. Finish eating, I am going to rent a room at the inn for us tonight." Kakashi then stood up and left the restaurant wanting to consider the situation they suddenly found themselves in without the distraction of his students.

As he left the restaurant Kakashi seriously considered summoning Pakkun to track down Katsuro Date, so he could at least get some more information from him now or perhaps kill him whichever seemed more appropriate at the time. However, Cloud ninjas were notorious for hiding their tracks even among ninjas. Trying to locate his camp now would be useless; it probably wouldn't be there until morning.

Instead Kakashi concentrated on trying to look underneath the underneath. It was possible that this Katsuro was lying and wanted to ambush Kakashi so he could claim to have killed the copycat ninja. He looked young enough to do something that stupid. However,there would be no way for Katsuro to know that he would be here at this time. Even if he did knew that he would be carrying the daimyo's message back there was no way to be sure of which path he would have taken back. That little fact also meant that the other two of his leading theories were equally unlikely. Which were to steal the Uchiha bloodline or to capture the container of the nine tailed demon fox.

By eliminating the other possibilities it left him with the conclusion that the Cloud ninja was telling the truth. Which raised other questions such as why would Katsuro choose to make a potential allies wait to get more information on the mission? There seem to be two possible answers to that question. Either he wanted to show that he would be the one in control of the mission or more likely he didn't want Kakashi to get reinforcements from the Leaf Village. However, with only two days there was no way Kakashi could report this to the Hokage and have her dispatch an ANBU team which would be the ideal situation. This of course presumed that the two-day timetable was real.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to have a choice other than to meet with him tomorrow. Having resigned himself to the situation, he began reviewing all the information he knew about Kumogakure. That wouldn't take long there wasn't much known about the Village Hidden among the Clouds. They had never participated in the Chunin Exam even when they were allied with Konoha. They also went to great lengths to hunt down any of their missing ninjas. Even the exact location of their village had been a mystery until recently. They also took in many missing Nin from other villages.

The ninjas themselves used mostly lightning-based jutsu. However, as a side effect of their policy of taking in missing ninjas there was no guarantee of what exactly they might use in a fight. In addition, they pursued their missions with the single-mindedness that was only surpassed by the Mist ninjas.

Kakashi sighed, he had suddenly found himself in a situation no ninja liked being in, which was responding to events rather than causing them. Having his team caught up with him in the same mess wasn't helping the situation. However, if there was a ninja making muskets he had to be stopped. Having two genin teams as their only support wasn't an ideal situation but you worked with what you have. The fact that their allies would be from the Village Hidden in the Clouds wasn't comforting either. To say, the Leaf and Cloud villages had a bad history would be putting it lightly.

Kakashi had one last thought before he entered the inn to reserve a room. It was that he was not going to enjoy the next few days.

Naruto watched his sensei leave the restaurant. As he turned his attention back to Sakura he tried to continue the conversation. "Sakura, who exactly decided muskets, would be forbidden and what else is." Sakura glared at him with a look that meant I can't believe you just asked that. He hated when she looked at him like that. It wasn't his fault he could never pay attention to all those history lessons. After all how could history make you a better ninja?

"You really should have learned about this at the Academy." With a sigh she began to answer his question."Long before, the system of the hidden villages was established, there was a great war. This war was worse than any war we've known since. It was because the people back then had weapons that we can't even imagine now. There were some that could destroy an entire village the size of Konoha in an instant. Others could kill everyone in an area but leaves all the buildings intact. The situation was made even worse because, no matter where you were you always knew exactly what was happening. This helped to spread anger which fueled more atrocities."

"How could they always be in contact" Naruto interrupted her lesson? "Think about it Naruto. Do you remember when we had to find that missing cat? She waited until he nodded in acknowledgment. We used those radios, well apparently back then they had radios that had a much greater distance than we have today. You understand."

He kind of did understand. If you had a radio that could broadcast your orders from hundreds of miles away it would be a lot faster than a messenger hawk or hand delivery.

She continued "well when the war was over the side who had won got together and they made a list. Anything that had made destruction on such a large scale possible was put on the list and forbidden. The list came to be known as the Forbidden Weapon List. Anyone who tried to make something that was on the list was severely punished. It was made the duty of the daimyo's to enforce that law. As a result the first hidden village was founded to carry out the punishments.

"As time went on most people forgot even how to make many of the things that are on the list. However, occasionally when somebody does find a way to make a forbidden weapon they are still punished. It is actually considered one of the most important duties of a hidden village. It's just extremely rare these days."

That kind of explains everything, Naruto thought to himself. He could feel a grin form across his face as a thought occurred to him. "I guess this means we'll have to help them. I'm sure glad we got this boring mission now." He paused, seeing Sakura expression changing. He tried to enlist Sasuke support for his opinion, but when he looked over he didn't see him sitting there anymore. Before he could say anything Sakura was already shouting at him. "Don't you realize how dangerous the situation is," as she leaned over the table to hit him.

* * *

The meeting with Kakashi couldn't have gone much better than it had, thought Katsuro to himself. He had provided Kakashi with enough information that he wouldn't be able to just walk away. No self respecting ninja would ignore such statements without at least attempting to confirm them. With the two days timetable he could not possibly report to Konohagakure and have them dispatch an ANBU team. Kakashi would have no other choice but to assist his team in their mission.

He paused for a moment in his retreat from the village to observe the terrain. He spotted what he was looking for which was a slight depression in the ground and walked into it. He then took out a small bag from his vest and started to spread the contents on the ground. The bag contained the dried remains of a plant. It would have an effect on dogs similar to catnip for cats. If Hatake Kakashi attempted to use one of his tracking dogs to hunt him down this would render them useless. After taking a whiff, any tracking dog would be lying on his back and contemplating the universe. It wouldn't do any permanent harm to them but, the dog certainly would not want to do any tracking for the rest of the day.

Even with that little trick he wanted to make sure that there would be no chance of a premature meeting. With that thought in mind he quickly formed his hands into the seals and with a great deal of concentration was able to perform the Shadow Clone Technique. He looked over at his clone to make sure that it was perfect, it was. He sent his clone west to the stream as he proceeded south to meet up with his team.

When he did meet up with his genin team his good mood was replaced by an annoyed one. He had expected they would be patiently waiting for him or already resting up for tomorrow. Instead, Shiori had pinned Otonashi against the tree and apparently was trying to strangle him. Ever since Chikao the third member, of the team, had been promoted to a chunin, little fights like this had been breaking out between the two of them. It's not that these two weren't at a chunin level themselves they just seemed to lack the maturity for that rank.

"Shiori what are you doing to Otonashi?"

She was startled at the sound of his voice, letting go of Otonashi she quickly turned around and tried to look innocent. "Sensei well you see" seeing an innocent act wouldn't cut it she looked down at her feet. She said in a quiet voice "he ate the pocky I was saving for after we completed our mission."

Katsuro didn't bother trying to hide his annoyance with the two and said, "We are on a mission, remember that. If I had been an enemy I could've slit both of your throats and you would have never known I was there." He glared at both of his students who were looking suitably ashamed for their actions.

Katsuro paused, allowing his irritation to fade before he continued "we will be moving the camp during the night and will meet up with the others tomorrow morning. I'm going to tell them everything we know then. After that I'm going to suggest to them that you two spar with two of them so we can all be familiar with each other strengths. Remember, I want to get a look at what they're capable of doing I already know what you can do."

"Sensei, what about the other one on their team we won't know what they're capable of?" Otonashi spoke up while still rubbing his throat.

"One of them wears the symbol of the Uchiha clan on his back. We know there was only one survivor from that massacre. When we heard that the survivor would be participating in the finals of their Chunin exam, we sent a spy to observe his performance. From what I've heard from those who did read the report they were impressed. Presumably his teammates are at least somewhat competent considering how their exams are set up."

Katsuro looked at his two students, as an idea for some additional training began to form. With a grin he said, "As punishment for you two being caught off guard earlier, you must acquire as much information as you can from the genin. However, they must not be aware of what you're doing. Approach it as if you're trying to make a bingo book entry on them."

* * *

A single figure made his way up a steep slope. The only illumination was provided by the moon when it broke through the overcast sky. It took his entire concentration not to lose his footing on the loose shale that made up the slope. Even with his full attention his foot would occasionally slip causing a cascade of small stones to slide down the hill. However, this had the benefit of announcing his arrival to the people on top of the hill.

Once reaching the top he could see the outlines of several structures surrounded by a wooden fence. He also could see two samurai standing guard at the entrance. The first was tall and lean while his companion was smaller and stocky.

"Who goes there," the smaller of the two asked with the tone of someone reading from an uninspiring script.

The newcomer responded by saying, "I am a friend of the samurai and of peace. My name is Iwato and I am expected by the Master Blacksmith here" he then proceeded to take off his forehead protector. Dropping it on the ground he proceeded to stomp his foot on it. This was the closest thing to heresy a ninja could commit.It was not only disrespectful to his village but, to all those who had ever fought in its defense.

The smaller guard gave a nod in acknowledgment. "Follow me, you are expected" his voice dripped with contempt. He then turned to open the gate. They proceeded in silence through the darkened compound. None of the buildings had windows which light normally would come through. Iwato could make a guess at the purpose of most of the buildings, there was a dorm and that building was probably used for storage. However, the building that looked like a large blacksmith workshop was probably not for making swords he thought to himself.

Instead of stopping at any of these buildings however, he was taken through the entire compound and to a building that didn't look larger than a shack. The guard knocked and waited for permission to enter. When he did open the door, light from a small portable lamp poured out.

Entering, Iwato saw a middle-age man who was hunched over a table working on something that he could not see. The man stood and turned to introduce himself. "My name is Shigeki Obara I am the head blacksmith here and formally from the Village Hidden in the Clouds." He bowed respectfully, "I presume you are from the Council who wish to know the progress I've made here."

"Yes, they are quite eager to know if you've made any progress. They have provided you with the materials and men you asked for and now wish to see if your claims are true."

Shigeki had a grin on his face that would look more proper on a 10-year-old then the face of a weary old man. He held up what he had been working on when Iwato had come in and said, "this is a fairly typical example of our work here. We have about 150 of them ready but, I've been playing with this one. I've manage to increase its accuracy to about 1000 yards with a new technique that I invented. It will add time to the manufacturing but, I'm sure the Council will agree that'll be worth it."

Iwato took the weapon and examined it. To him it appeared to be a pipe that rested in a wooden stock. The only complicated part about it was the firing mechanism. He knew that its simplicity understate its deadliness. With a touch of awe in his voice he said, "So this is a weapon that can kill any ninja. It seems odd; we wish to ensure peace by destroying the ninjas but to do so we have to create even more weapons."

"The samurais don't have much of a choice. The ninjas are living weapons our only purpose is to kill for the advancement of our villages. The only hope for lasting peace on this continent is to give power to someone who has honor; the samurai are the only ones who can do it."

Iwato wasn't surprised to hear such hatred coming from his comrade. He didn't know what events had driven this man to hate what he was but, he was sure there past had much in common. "I understand I was dispatched from my village to observe the Sand and Leaf's borders. They want to know which side to support if they start going at each other again, despite the fact that we have a peace treaty with both sides. Not to mention that they're supposed to be each other's allies."

"Disgraceful" Shigeki said while hanging his head in shame feeling guilty to be in the same caste as them. After a moment he asked, "Anyway, how long until you have to report back to your village?"

"I have to make a full report on your operation here to the Council. I should have enough information within a day or two. Then I have to drop-off my report with my contact to the Council. I really should observe the borders for a little while just so I can make my report sound convincing to my village."

"Fine,just don't get in anyone's way. You will sleep here tonight, the samurai prefer to have as little to do with us ninja's as possible not that I blame them," said Shigeki with a grimace.

Iwato sighed, "You know I envy you being permitted to leave your village by the Council."

"The Council needs its spies in the hidden villages. You are doing important work" Shigeki said in an effort to comfort him. "Don't worry your time will come, the time of the ninja is at its' end."


	3. Chapter 3

Morning came too soon for Sakura. She hadn't slept well the night before. Even having the luxuries of being able to wash her hair and take a bath had done nothing to alleviate her stress. She had spent most of the night worrying alternately about, Sasuke's abrupt change in attitude towards the team and the upcoming meeting with the Cloud ninjas.

For the first time in her life she wished she hadn't been such a diligent student. At the Academy they only discussed the subject once but, she could remember every detail of the lecture. Once a musket was pointed at you there was nothing you could do but, pray it would miss you. There was something inherently wrong, about the whole concept of a musket it didn't fit within their world. That's why Iruka sensei spent the rest of that lesson reassuring the whole class that there had not been a musket used since before the founding of Konoha.

She looked across the room at the rest of her team; they all appeared to be well rested and relaxed. She was apparently the only one who was nervous about the upcoming meeting. Kakashi sensei was patiently reading his book while waiting for everyone to be ready to go. Sasuke was leaning against a wall looking slightly annoyed as he glared at the door Naruto was behind. Naruto had been excited all last night; it had even been easy to wake him up in the morning for a change.

Naruto emerged from the bathroom with a big grin on his face and said, "alright let's go" and started to leave before being stopped by Kakashi.

"Wait Naruto, there are two things I want to say. The first is there is a slim possibility that this is going to be an ambush. If that happens I want you three to break off. Retreat back to this village, I'll cover your withdraw and meet up with you back here. The second is, if I believe this mission is beyond your capabilities, you three are to immediately report to the Hokage and tell her to send reinforcements. I'll stay here and monitor the situation until reinforcements arrive. Understand." He waited until he got a nod of acknowledgment from all three of them and then said, "Alright, follow me."

Before he could turn around Sakura asked, "Sensei isn't this mission already beyond our capabilities." She felt ashamed as she said it, as if she was holding back her teammates keeping them from reaching their full potential.

Naruto was the one to answer "don't worry Sakura, remember we took down that Aoi Rokusho guy and handled the Forest of Death. We will be able to handle this with no problem." Those words didn't exactly comfort her but he gave her one of his smiles that kind of made him look like a fox that found its way into a chicken coop she thought to herself. She could see from the corner of her eye Sasuke wincing at the mention of Aoi Rokusho name but, all she could think to do was say "thanks Naruto" while wishing she could help Sasuke somehow.

They followed Kakashi out of the inn in silence. Sakura noticed it was still dark outside. The little town was still asleep. They passed through it unnoticed like ghosts, none of them wanting to make a sound and shatter the calm. Heading west they navigated through a small grass field that surrounded the town and proceeded into the woods.

It was at this point they unconsciously moved into a diamond formation. Kakashi took the lead, Sasuke was to his right, Sakura was on his left side, and Naruto was bringing up the rear. This formation was supposed to be used when a squad was advancing into hostile territory with little groundcover. It permitted them to travel at a good clip while remaining on the ground.

The directions they had been given were vague, to the west encompassed a large area. When they could see the river and there was no camp, they proceeded uphill. Sakura didn't know why Kakashi chose that direction but, she followed unquestioningly trusting in her sensei's judgment.

The longer they traveled with no sight of the camp, the more Sakura's anxiety grew. As her anxiety grew, the more her thoughts were pulled back to the last time a mission had abruptly changed on them. Thinking of Zabuza and Haku was turning her anxiety into fear. She pushed those thoughts away and tried to concentrate on the terrain, knowing that fear would bring death in an emergency.

That was probably why she was the first to spot the camp. She only saw the corner of a tent; it was dark green and blended well into the darkness. "Sensei, I think it's over there."

"I see it Sakura, you three hang back a bit while I talk to them, keep your guards up."

As they approach the camp, she only saw three people. She thought that meant they were one short, didn't he say yesterday that there was a genin team with him? However, the tent was only big enough for two people. Sakura presumed this meant they maintained a watch during the night and we're sharing sleeping bags. That was an unpleasant thought but, if it was with Sasuke she wouldn't mind too much. A blush came across her face with that thought, focused Sakura she thought to herself.

Kakashi approached them and stopped at the outskirts of the camp. "Alright we are here; care to give us more details now."

The man who had approached them yesterday was sitting on the ground his back resting against a tree. He looked over at Kakashi and said, "sure but why don't you have a seat first."

"No, I don't trust you. You haven't exactly been free with all your information if you want our help tell me everything now." A threatening tone had entered Kakashi's voice; it had sent a shiver up Sakura's spine, and it hadn't even been directed at her.

"Well I really can't blame you; I probably react the same way if I were in your position. So here's everything I know up to this point. We were originally sent out to capture a man named Shigeki Hori he is a 45-year-old chunin, that's gives you an idea of how dangerous he is." He said it with a sarcastic tone that was hard to miss. "It was deemed not worth bothering the Hunter Nin with. He never showed any particular talent except for making weapons. He was one of the best in the village when it came to that.

"He left our village under the pretext of acquiring new materials for his work. He was suppose to be gone for only three days but, after he was overdue for a week we launched a search. During the search it was ascertained that he had no intention of coming back.

"I volunteered my team to track him down, their rank may only be genin but they have the skills of a chunin. We didn't have any luck tracking him down with conventional methods. It occurred to me that he had to make a living somehow and unless he was taken in by another village, his only other options were turned to crime or to set up his own blacksmith shop. So, when we found out that a large amount of materials that could set up a blacksmith shop were recently purchased we followed the trail. It led us to this country and eventually to these hills. Do you have any questions?"

"Yesterday you said he had picked up more followers than you expected what did you mean by that?"

"You know how missing Nin sometimes picks up hangers on. Most of the time they're wannabes ninjas or just thugs, we thought he might pick up one or two. However, Shigeki must've done something right because he has 33 of them and their all real samurai."

A long silence followed that statement. Sakura thoughts were stalled on that number, 33 enemies there was no way they could handle that many. They would be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. Naruto voice broke into her thoughts, "so what, samurais are easy to beat. The last time I had to fight two of them I took them out no problem." When he finished speaking he crossed his arms over his chest and plastered on a huge grin.

His outburst had drawn everyone's attention to him. "Oh and what would your name be" Katsuro inquired with an annoyed tone.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I am going to be the next Hokage, believe it!"

Katsuro tone was a bit condescending when he replied. "Right, well you probably just fought two thugs calling themselves samurai. Most real samurais would give a genin some problems and a good one can even be difficult on a chunin, at least when it comes to Taijutsu and weapons."

Naruto was about to say something in return, but before he could start an argument Sakura tried to draw some of the attention away from him by asking the first question that came to her mind. "How did you know that we would be in that town?" That question thankfully had headed off the retort that Naruto would've made.

Katsuro turned his attention away from Naruto to answer her question "actually it was just an educated guess. We know that the Fire daimio's has been trying to marry off his youngest son to the daughter of the Honey daimyo." He shrugged casually and continued "it's not exactly a secret. I knew ninjas would be carrying the messages back and forth so I just staked out the nearest town to the target. It was just a coincidence that it was you."

"Why aren't you just asking for reinforcements from another Hidden Village? As you said yesterday this is a threat to every Hidden Village. If asked they would provide you with assistance." Kakashi has finally asked the question that had been bothering him the most.

"That's right they would've. They also would have cut us out of the loop. All the allies of Cloud are fairly far away from here. If I had asked Grass, Sand or even Leaf they wouldn't have let me in on the mission. The man we are hunting is making enough muskets to outfit a small army. I want to know who's been helping him and where all those muskets were going to go.

"If you help us on the other hand your village will get the information along with ours. So are you going to help us or not? I need to know now because I believe they are preparing to move some of those muskets. Once that happens who knows how long it would take to track them all down."

For the first time he appeared to Sakura as not arrogant but almost in a panic. She could almost sympathize with him. He felt trapped in a corner. Cut off from reinforcements, feeling that time was running out to complete his mission he didn't have many options left. That didn't mean she wanted to help him any more than she did before. However, even if she was feeling obligated to do something about the situation she still didn't want to. It was out of her league, Sasuke could help and probably Naruto, but what could she do. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard her sensei say "okay will help."

* * *

Naruto was waiting for the ok to begin the spar. He stared across the field at his opponent. Otonashi was standing at the other end of a clearing. He was dressed in what passed for traditional ninja garb. He didn't strike Naruto as anything special compared to some of his previous opponents. Naruto had been told that he specialized in poisons but he wouldn't be using those in this spar. They were supposed to show their capabilities while keeping the injuries to a minimum.

"All right begin" Kakashi had said the words Naruto was dying to hear. Naruto ran straight towards his opponent intending to catch him with a flying kick to the head. It was blocked rather painfully whatever he had just hit it wasn't just flesh and bone. Ignoring the pain he followed up with a shot to his sternum intending to knock the wind out of him but again it was deflected.

For a second, Naruto thought his wrist might be broken. Deciding it was time to get serious and start using some Jutsu. He tried to put some distance between the two of them. As he retreated he saw Otonashi's wrist flick out and throw a kunai at him which he had concealed in his hand. That solved the mystery of why those blocks hurt so much.

Naruto was able to twist out of the way but ended up stumbling over his feet. Otonashi rushed forward attempting to capitalize on the situation. Naruto was able to turn his fall into a backwards role and then sprung forward knocking both of them to the ground. He rolled to his feet and was finally able to use his Shadow Clone Technique. He produced three clones that went straight for Otonashi.

Otonashi attacked the first one with a simple front kick, with a surprised look on his face he said, "These things are real." He retreated backward while making hand signs. A small bolt of lightning hit both of the remaining clones sending a cloud of dust into the air where they were just standing. Otonashi used this as cover to close in on Naruto. The two met with a clash of steel on steel both having drawn a kunai. For a moment the two stood trapped in a test of strength. It was Otonashi that broke the stalemate by throwing a white powder into Naruto's eyes.

Pain, unbelievable pain in its intensity shot through Naruto. It felt as if his eyes were on fire. The pain brought forth a raged Naruto had only felt a few times before in his life. He maintained enough control over it to perform the Shadow Clone Technique again. This time he wanted his clones to hold Otonashi still, while he gathered the chakra in his palm to perform the Rasengan. He charged towards the black blur that was surrounded by orange with the intent to kill.

Naruto then suddenly found himself flying through the air. When he came crashing to the ground, the Rasengan released its energy creating a sizable crater. He found himself at the bottom of the crater his anger had suddenly dissipated as suddenly as it appeared. He looked at the top of the crater as he heard someone approach. He thought it was Kakashi, that thought was confirmed when he heard the large black shape speak.

"What part of a friendly spar didn't you understand?" Kakashi sighed as he bent over to help Naruto at of the crater.

"Don't be too hard on him. After all, the purpose of all of this was to get an idea of our student's strengths. Minus the fact that he almost killed my student I thought it went rather well."

Naruto tried to follow the conversation but he still couldn't see too well. He was about to rub his eyes when he heard a shout.

"Don't do that you'll just make it worse" Otonashi shouted. As he ran over to Naruto, "here allow me to help you." He took Naruto by the forearm and led them over to a log. Once he sat Naruto down he started cleaning around Naruto's eyes with a wet cloth.

"What did you do to me I can't see clearly" Naruto's tone was somewhere between irritation and panic.

"I guessweboth got a little carried away. Sorry. That white stuff was mostly the extract from the cayenne pepper. Don't worry your eyes will return to normal soon enough. It looks like I didn't get you to well with it." Otonashi said.

"What would it have done if you did get me good?" Naruto said bitterly.

"It would have completely incapacitated you by making it very difficult for you to breathe." Otonashi said casually.

"So, are you a medic?" Naruto asked.

Otonashi shrugged though Naruto couldn't see it. "A field medic if nothing else, I don't particularly like healing jutsu's but, it will look good on my application when I request a transfer to ANBU. That's kind of my goal. I would be the first in my family to reach such a position."

"Oh I get it. My goal is to become the next Hokage." Naruto said.

"So you've said, why exactly would you want all that responsibility that comes with that position. Here I want to check your eyes follow my finger."

Naruto followed Otonashi finger as he said, "Well that's simple everybody respects the Hokage and looks up to them. Everyone will have to acknowledge me when I become Hokage.

"Well it looks like you're well on your way to achieving that goal at least when it comes to strength. I have never heard of a genin that could perform the Shadow Clone Technique before. In fact, I don't know of many ninjas that can perform that technique let alone whatever that last thing was."

Naruto didn't know what to say to that. Except for the Konohamaru Corps no one had ever told him that he could succeed in his goal. Fortunately, the spar between Sakura and Shiori had started. It provided an opportunity to change the conversation.

The two of them watched the spar. Naruto cheering loudly for Sakura to kick her butt while Otonashi calmly watched. "You know as long as you're friend keeps it in close quarters she'll win."

"Really"

"Yeah, Shiori is not good at close quarters combat."

Naruto cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted as loudly as he could. "Sakura keep her close she's not good at hand-to-hand combat."


	4. Chapter 4

Authors note the quote "No plan of battle ever survives contact with the enemy" is attributed to Heinz Wilhelm Guderian it is not an original creation of mine

* * *

"One of these days, one of my arrows is going to accidentally find its way into your back," Shiori said to her teammate in a low threatening tone. Her match against Sakura had not lasted long after her little secret had been ousted. Until that point she felt she had a chance to defeat her. Sakura had been cautious, keeping her distance and unwilling to commit to any particular strategy. She'd give the girl credit though when she saw an opening she took it. 

Otonashi grinned this was the Shiori he liked. Her polite diligent student act didn't really suit her. He said to her in a condescending tone "no one would ever believe you could miss. Besides it's your own fault, you know your weaknesses but you choose not to work on them."

Shiori gritted her teeth. Privately she would admit to herself that Otonashi had a point. She relied heavily on her bow. After all it is what her family was known for and as a result, most of her time had been spent perfecting her technique. Their sensei had even said much the same thing recently to her. She just hadn't had the time to find a way to improve her close quarters fighting techniques before this mission had come up. If she was generous she could interpret Otonashi's actions as an attempt to help her realize this.

However, she'd be damned if she ever admitted that in front of him. Besides, if he had really wanted to help her, he would not have done it in such a public fashion. The jerk had humiliated her, granted she only really cared about what her sensei thought of her but it still really aggravated her. Otonashi seemed to go out of his way to tick her off.

She was about to start an argument with him when she was interrupted by her sensei.

"Why don't you start eating breakfast now? Kakashi and I now have an idea of your skills. We are going to work on a plan of attack. So, why don't you eat while you can?" Though it was put in the form of a question his eyes made it into a command.

* * *

In hindsight Sakura was regretting that she took advantage of Shiori's weakness like she had. If she had found it on her own it would have been one thing. However, she had been told about it which made her feel like she was cheating. Which was stupid because she was no longer at the Academy, this was the real world she should take any advantage she could get. 

Not to mention that it had also caused that fight between Otonashi and Shiori. Her team had its fair share of fights but that argument had been something different. There had been an edge to it that made it different then anything her team would have. These two were practically strangers but even she could tell that there had been a lot more to that fight, than at first glance. Her interest was only professional; if she would be working with them she would like to make sure that their personal animosity towards each other would not affect their mission. This is why she found herself eating breakfast with Shiori trying to get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to start so the two of them were sitting there eating in an uncomfortable silence.

Shiori was the one that broke the silence by saying, "I'm sorry about before, Otonashi just knows how to push my buttons. I wasn't angry about losing to you."

Sakura was relieved that she had been provided with an opening to start off the conversation. "Naruto does the same thing; he can just be so annoying at times." She glanced over at Naruto who was still sitting on the log talking to Otonashi while eating breakfast. She felt bad that she was bashing her teammate, but if it got the ball rolling she could live with it.

Shiori shook her head "that's not exactly what I meant. As I'm sure you saw my taijutsu skills are severely lacking. It's just; I've been trying to find a way to improve on them but haven't had any luck. The worst part is when we were at our Academy I always had better grades than he had and now he's the one pointing out my Weaknesses ."

Sakura looked down at her food. She wondered if that was it, Shiori was upset that her success at her Academy had not made her into a great genin. She could sympathize with that as she said, "I know what you mean I used to be the second best student in the class and now I am the weakest member of my team." She sighed its not as if she had not improved at all since she had become a genin. She was just doing it so slowly when she compared herself with her teammates. Naruto had improved by leaps and bounds and Sasuke was beyond both of them just like he had been at the Academy.

"Well, it's like my sensei says" Shiori said in an upbeat tone "graduating from the Academy is like opening a door that leads to a hallway with thousands of doors in it. Their job is to give us the keys to the doors. Our job is to find the doors that our particular keys go with. Of course that's just an overcomplicated way to say go with your strengths," Shiori said with a grin as she raised her cup of cold tea for a toast "to finding our strengths."

* * *

The two Jounin were crouched over a model of their target. They had been discussing various ideas on how to successfully attack it with minimal danger to their teams while maximizing their chance of success. The plan they had finally settled on was not the greatest but Kakashi believed it was the best they could do with what they had. The fact that no plan of battle ever survives contact with the enemy was weighing heavily on Kakashi's thoughts. It was the muskets they were an unknown quantity. The two guards at the gate were armed with them but the rest were believed to be stored in a building and thus will hopefully not be a factor in the attack. He watched as Katsuro released the jutsu and the model dissolved back into dirt. They rose and walked towards their students to start the briefing. 

As he walked towards them, Kakashi took a minute to collect his thoughts. Unlike the Wave mission he knew his students would have to go into combat against superior numbers and this was worrying him. He looked over at the group of genin who were eating their breakfast together. They look like a bunch of kids having a picnic. Instead of what they were, which were soldiers about to go into combat he thought to himself. That thought caught him by surprise. Was he becoming too close to his students to teach and lead them effectively?

No, that wasn't right. Though under normal circumstances, genin would not be allowed to participate in a mission like this. He believed his genin were capable of handling it and that decision had been made after a calculation of their strengths. Emotions were not involved.

"All right listen up because were only going through this once," Katsuro shouted to draw everyone's attention.

Katsuro went through a series of hand signs and then slammed both of his hands on the ground. The ground erupted and formed itself into a model of their target. Kakashi started the briefing. "This spot was probably chosen because it's easy to defend. It's built on the top of a mountain about 9 miles northeast of here. It is only practical to approach it on the northern side via this steep slope here. Unfortunately, it's consists of loose shale. If you try to run up the slope you would fall on your face. Even if you were to use the water walking technique it would be of no use."

"Why is that sensei, it's a solid surface so shouldn't it be easier than walking on water" Naruto asked.

Kakashi answered, "Normally you'd be correct but shale is just loose stone piled on loose stone. You can't use your chakra to help distribute your weight as you would in the Water Walking Technique. You also can't use your chakra to provide a grip on anything because all you could reach as the top layer of stone so the Tree Climbing Technique will be useless as well. As a result we want you all to crabwalk up the slope."

Crabwalking was a stealth technique used by many ninjas while they were on roofs. It was simple to perform all you had to do was bend over and use your arms as a second pair of legs. It was meant to keep the users profile low and thus preventing patrols from seeing them from below. However, it had the side benefit of distributed the user's weight which was why they were using it in this case. It would hopefully allow the genin to proceed up the hill much faster then if they had just tried to run up it.

Kakashi continued, "the attack plan is fairly simple. First we're going to have Shiori climb this cliff. When you reach the top we want you to conceal yourself as best as you can and wait. When Katsuro gives you a signal by radio you are to fire an arrow with an explosive tag on it at this building" he pointed to a small building. Since you are an expert marksman, the exact location where you will fire from is being left up to you but it will have to be somewhere on the west side. We want you to hit this building because we believe they are storing the gunpowder there do you understand?"

Shiori was surprised that he knew she was an expert marksman. She was sure that he would not have assumed that just because she had a bow. She hadn't given her last name to anyone so that meant her sensei must've told him. It really didn't matter she supposed but at the Academy, it had been drilled into their heads to never give any information to a ninja from other villages. She shook her head in confusion and asked two questions. "Why would they have to make their own gunpowder and what makes you think they are storing the gunpowder there?"

Katsuro spoke up "to answer your second question first. Gunpowder is only produced in small quantities inside of Hidden Villages. So there is no way they could lay their hands on enough of it for their muskets." He nodded over to Kakashi so he could continue with the briefing.

"Also, that building is off to itself and is sunk into the ground. It is both I and your sensei's opinion that these precautions were taken because if it accidentally exploded the damage would be minimal. Once we hear the explosion I am going to take out the two guards at the entrance. The rest of you will crabwalk up the hill and follow me into the compound. At this point Naruto will create five clones and use the transformation technique on them so they appear as an ANBU squad. Once inside Katsuro is going to go after Shigeki alone and capture him. I'm going to guard the building that we believe the muskets are being stored in.

"The rest of you are to form a line with your backs to the fence. From the side closest to Shiori it will be Otonashi, Naruto, Sakura and then Sasuke. The clones are to be sent into the camp and cause as much confusion as possible. We do not want their response to be organized.

"The rest of you are to take the enemies as they come at you. Fortunately, the samurai style of fighting is generally one on one, it's an honor thing among them but that's no guarantee that they won't gang up on you. We would like some prisoners but don't risk your lives over it. Shiori will make sure none of them try to escape in the confusion and take down any targets of opportunity. Sasuke from your position you are to cover the blind spots Shiori won't be able to see.

"This entire operation will be a failure if one of them gets away." Kakashi looked up from the model as he finished the briefing and said, "Does everyone understand the plan?" He looked around at the genin each of them gave a silent nod showing they understood the plan and the gravity of the situation.

* * *

Team seven was heading towards their target to accomplish their mission. This time they were joined by another genin team and their objective had changed. Someone who had seen them yesterday would not recognize them today. Kakashi's book had been put away and Naruto was quiet as he scanned the terrain for any threats. There was no meaningless chatter among them. 

They stayed on the ground. The trees around them were pine trees and would not lend themselves to their preferred mode of travel. The sun was beginning to peek over the mountain bringing a second dawn for the day.

Sasuke allowed himself to fall to the back of the group. He had been spending the last few days reevaluating his progress in achieving his goals. He had come to the conclusion that his progress was severely lacking. He had dedicated himself to becoming strong. Strong enough that nothing would stand in his way; only through strength would he ever be able to achieve his goals.

They were simple enough in theory to revive his clan and to kill his brother. His first goal, would have to wait it would be several years before it would be practical to consider marriage and children. That would have to be his first step in rebuilding his clan. However, he was not sure if it would be even safe to start a family as long as Itachi lived. Would he come back and kill any of Sasuke descendents. Itachi reasoning behind his monstrous actions were still a mystery to Sasuke. There had to be more to it than what he was told that night.

He would have to kill his brother before he could rebuild his clan. For years, he had sacrificed everything to achieve his goals. He had driven himself as hard as he could. However, his recent encounter with Itachi had ended the same way as it had before. Nothing had changed it had been exactly the same as four years ago. He was allowed to live, not worth the effort it would take to finish him off.

All his years of training, preparing for that single moment when he could take vengeance for his clan. It all had been meaningless. Itachi was still years beyond his grasp. Where had he gone wrong? Had he allowed Naruto and Sakura to become too close to him and as a result slowed him down? Had his concern for them on missions prevented him from reaching his full potential?

No, he wouldn't blame others for his failures. Outside of missions and the training directed by Kakashi he spent little time with them. At most he had dinner with them twice at Ichiraku. As for missions he would have to admit that he would probably be dead if it had not been for his teammates on several occasions. That was what really bothered him, he needed his teammates he had come to rely on them. It was his weakness, he was not even sure exactly when it had happened?

He had never been satisfied with just being the number one rookie of the year. He had always looked for stronger opponents someone to test his strength against. He was always setting his sights higher and higher.

Somehow he had stalled in his progress. His eyes drifted over to the orange clad ninja. When he had not been looking he somehow had caught up to him. The former dead last, was now at least as strong as he was. He would admit to himself and only himself that Naruto may even be stronger than himself.

He would have to spar with him to make sure of his strength. And he would have done just that, if Kakashi had not dragged them on this mission. D ranked missions were a waste of his time but at least this one had become interesting. It was also providing him with another chance to prove to himself that he was still stronger than Naruto.


	5. Chapter 5

Authors note: I tried adding "fluff" as one reviewer suggested. Hope I succeeded. I would appreciate any feedback on the fight scenes.

* * *

Shiori was in a bad mood. She was hot, her legs were cramping, she had insects crawling all over her and to top it all off her nerves were starting to get to her. She was lying outside of the enemy compound. Actually to be precise she was half in and half out of the compound. She had squeezed into a small gap between the ground and the fence.

She had encountered more problems than she had expected while trying to reach this point. First while she was climbing the cliff the rock had given away several times. She was not sure of what type of rock the cliff was made out of but, it was so brittle that she could easily crumble a piece in her hand. Then there had been the damn fence. From a distance it looked like it was built close to the cliff but in actuality it had been built right to the edge. This was a fact that she had not fully appreciated until she was at the bottom of the cliff staring up at it. Fortunately, she and Otonashi had taken turns keeping the target under observation, before they were able to draft the Konoha ninjas into helping them. So, she knew where she wanted to take her shot from. Unfortunately, that had involved squeezing through a small trough that had been probably formed from runoff during rainstorms. If she had been slightly larger it would've been impossible to get through it. Even now she had to put her body through some rather painful contortions to fit.

That had been the most dangerous part. In theory it had been timed, so that everyone would be inside of a building working while she's squeezed through. Even then she had been careful, listening for several minutes before she poked her head into the hole between the fence and the ground. After that she had to throw a blanket over herself and performed a jutsu that made the blanket look like the ground. The Illusion Technique should hold up unless someone stood right over it. Unfortunately, the blanket had been heavy and it was getting hot under there, even though the day itself was mild. To make it worse, if she made a sudden movement it would destroy the jutsu, so the bugs were having a field day crawling on her.

In the end though, she had a perfect line of sight on her target. She would have to shoot her bow while holding it parallel to the ground. It was an awkward position but, despite her other shortcomings she had practiced shooting her bow from any and every possible position. She was ready to go but had not received the go signal. That was making her nervous. She had been in position for ten minutes now and was beginning to wonder, what was the hold up?

With nothing else to entertain her mind with she began to worry about everything that could go wrong. Her thoughts range from legitimate concerns such as what if the building was not being used for the storage of black powder? To the completely absurd such as what if the mission was going to be scrubbed? That last thought was crazy and the most disconcerting. She wouldn't be able to climb back down the cliff. She banished those useless thoughts. Her sensei wouldn't abandon her here and more importantly he wouldn't abandon the mission. The only way a ninja from Kumogakure could return from a failed mission was with severe injuries or several dead teammates.

Instead, she concentrated on what she would do after the explosion. She summoned up a mental image of what she knew the camp looked like. There were three long buildings each at a ninety degree angle from the other. These were the barracks, the blacksmith shop and the black powder shop respectfully. There were several smaller buildings these were presumably used for storage. As a result, she could not see the front of the camp from where she was so she would have to reposition herself to provide support to the others. Besides that's the only way anyone would be able to escape from the camp, so she could kill two birds with one stone.

Her thoughts were interrupted with the crackle of static from the radio in her ear. "Shiori you are cleared to take the shot when you are ready. Once we hear the explosion we'll launch the attack, over." She had never been so glad to hear her sensei's voice before. She notched the arrow she had prepared with an explosive tag on it into her bow. She infused her chakra into the tag so it would go off five seconds after she released it. She slowlypulled back on her bow and released.

* * *

There wasn't much that really annoyed Naruto Uzumaki. However, one of those things that annoyed him was waiting. He hated waiting whether it was for the three minutes it took to make instant Ramen or waiting for his sensei to show up. So he was not enjoying his current circumstances. He wanted to go now. In his head he imagined summoning a thousand clones and attacking. Perhaps he could summon Gamabuntaand have him squish the entire compound. That last thought had brought a grin to his face.

Unfortunately, he had only managed to summon that many clones once before and that time had been special. As for summoning Gamabunta, that never really went as he planned and besides, the toad never really listened to him anyway.

He was lost in his thoughts and he almost missed the sign that Sakura was trying to give him. She was waving her arm while holding up three fingers. The message meant that the mission would begin in three minutes. He acknowledged that he received it and passed it on to Otonashi. He began to feel that strange combination of excitement and a little fear that he always felt before going into battle. He loved that feeling. He waited for the sound of the explosion so that he could race up the hill.

When the explosion did come it was almost a surprise. He had expected a huge explosion and to see some flying debris. Instead it sounded like a distant clap of thunder and he really wasn't sure if that had been it until he saw everyone else started to move. Then he exploded out from where he had been hiding and started racing up the hill on all fours.

Once he reached the bottom of the hill he understood why they were told to crabwalk up it. The stone was so loose beneath him that it still was giving way under his weight. The stones were sharp but his hands had enough calluses on them that it didn't cut into him. Naruto hadn't been the first one to reach the hill at first, but he was the one going up the fastest. It almost felt natural for him to travel on all fours. It must be a side effect of his tenant he thought to himself.

From the corner of his eye he could see Kakashi use a chakra infused jump to reach halfway up the hill. He then jumped straight up and used the Body Flicker Technique to appear behind the two guards who had turned around to see what had caused the explosion. Naruto really wanted to learn how he could do that. Then he heard the sound of two bodies rolling down the hill. He looked over to see that the two guards were clearly dead. A kunai was buried in the base of both of their skulls. Kakashi must've taken them by utter surprise. Seeing the two bodies rolling past him, it brought two thoughts to Naruto's mind. The first was did Kakashi really have to kill those two? The other was thirty one left to go.

Then he was at the top of the hill, he performed the Shadow Clone Technique and transferred his clones into ANBU and sent them into the compound. He drew a kunai and waited for the counterattack to begin.

* * *

Shigeki had lost his enthusiasm for the tour he was giving to Iwato. The man clearly did not understand much if anything of what he was saying. Nor could he fully appreciate all they had accomplished here in such a short time. It had become clear to him that the Council had only sent him to make sure that they had made some progress. He understood why they wouldn't trust him. After all, he was still a ninja and had no real code of conduct like the samurai did. He briefly wondered if he could ever be accepted into this new world they were trying to create here.

He paused for a moment to look around at all he had helped to create. In reality his part had been small but significant. He had provided the recipe for the gunpowder and had assisted in the design of the muskets itself. He had also helped in concealing the buildings, so they could not be easily found. He was pulled out of his thoughts by yet another inane question asked by Iwato. "You seem to be ahead of schedule?"

"Yes we are, in fact I believe we should start moving some of the muskets to a more secure and permanent location." He was going to say more when the building was rocked by an explosion. The lanterns, which were the only sources of illumination, shook violently threatening to plunge the building into darkness. After the explosion there was a second of silence until it was broken by Shigeki. He knew that the storage house for the gunpowder had just exploded and it was impossible for it to be an accident. He shouted so all could hear him "we are under attack. Get to your positions."

That shouted order sent all the men into a fury of action. Shigeki had been no tactical genius in his previous life. However, he had insisted that there be a plan in place in case they came under attack. He had left the details in the capable hands of the senior samurai's.

Fortunately, he did not have to give any other orders these men were trained soldiers and knew what to do. The only thing he had to do was order Iwato into action. The man seemed to be frozen "Iwato" he shouted trying to get his attention. "Listen, Iwato pay attention damn it you have to help defend the compound" he shouted at the man while shaking him violently. Fortunately, that seemed to bring him back to reality so he continued. "Listen; there are two parts to our defense plan. Most of the men will try to engage the intruders while the others get their armor on. You have to help them, without gunpowder the muskets are useless so we're going to need all the help we can get. I'm going to go get the musket I showed you last night. I kept a little gunpowder in my shack for testing purposes. So go and help them defend the camp."

Iwato and Shigeki were the last to leave the building. When Shigeki saw the intruders a bolt of fear went through him. He recognized them as ANBU the elite of any ninja village. He only saw four of them and presumed there had to be a fifth one around here somewhere. ANBU squads always consisted of five members. He watched as Iwato charged one striking him with his Bo staff. Surprisingly he had made contact easily and then the man simply "poof" out of existence.

They were clones nothing more than clones. Shigeki felt relieved for a moment before he realized, of course they would be a clone. The defenders had two advantages the first had been their rifles but their supply of gunpowder had been destroyed taking that advantage away from them. Their second was their superior numbers. Of course the ANBU wouldn't attack them in the open they would try to find some way to take their second advantage away from them. The clones were merely a diversion to give the real ANBU members time to set up whatever devious trap they had in mind.

He shook his head, it didn't matter once he got hold of the musket he had been modifying it wouldn't matter what they did. No ninja could evade a bullet. He started running towards his shack leaving the battle behind. Soon he was out of sight and he could see his destination. He was taken by complete surprise when he was knocked to the ground by someone. He tried to throw the person off of him but he couldn't get any leverage. Once he had arrived here he had abandoned all of his ninja tools so he had nothing he could use. His arm was jerked behind him and a knee was slammed against his neck. Then the man spoke to him in a sarcastic tone "Shigeki, nice to see you again, but you been a very bad boy abandoning your village like you have."

The voice sounded vaguely familiar to him, he had probably been a customer of his at one time. He tried to shake the man off of him one more time and spat out "get off me you slithering coward."

"Now you know I can't do that" the man said to him, as he twisted his arm a little more. Shigeki then felt a hand rest on his back and a draining sensation. He wasn't sure what technique this was but he knew its purpose. His chakra was going to be drained so he would be completely exhausted and unable to fight back.

* * *

Naruto was surprised how fast his clones had been destroyed. He was pretty sure that three of them had been taken out by the same man. That was surprising; he was beginning to understand what Katsuromeant when he said there was a difference between the samurai he had fought before and these guys.

He had to stop thinking about that because the samurai had finally caught on that there were intruders at the front gate. They came around the building that was in front of them in two groups with their swords drawn. He performed his Shadow Clone Technique and created ten clones. He knew the more he created the less effectively he could use them. Fortunately, he just wanted to slow some of their enemies down so they could take them out more easily.

Unfortunately, he hadn't notice the man who jumped on the roof of the building. He had a Bo staff which he held horizontally in his hands. The man was in the perfect position to see which one of them was capable of using the Shadow Clone Technique that person would be his first target. He infused his Bo with his chakra which causing it to lengthen two feet on either side and began to spin it. A vortex of wind hit Naruto sending him flying backwards through the fence.

For the second time that day, Naruto found himself flying through the air. The attack itself hadn't been painful but it had taken him by surprise. He landed badly on his back and slid down the hill several more feet before he was able to stop himself. He got to his feet just in time to roll away from a swipe at his head with the Bo.

Naruto tried to put some distance between him and his opponent, which was hard because the guys Bo staff was ten feet long. Naruto got his first good look at his opponent. He looked to be in his twenties and was dressed like some Grass ninjas Naruto had seen before. "Hey, I thought samurai couldn't use chakra," Naruto shouted at his opponent.

The guy smirked down at Naruto "I'm not a samurai I am unfortunately a ninja like you. You know you had me worried at first. I thought somebody had followed me here but it turns out that it's just a bunch of wet behind the ears genin trying to be heroes."

"Don't underestimate me!" Naruto shouted as he charged at the man. He threw three shuriken at him, while grabbing a kunai from his holster. The man simply stepped out of the shuriken paths but that was exactly what Naruto wanted him to do. He dragged his kunai along the length of his opponents Bo as he rushed toward him. He was trying to get into striking distance of the unknown ninja. Unfortunately, the guy was able to use his brute strength to push Naruto away. As he tried to keep his balance, he couldn't avoid a hit from the guys Bo. It was more like a tap on his elbow but it made his left arm go numb.

The guy smirked as he made several thrusts at Naruto. He was able to parry each time but he was being driven further down the hill and further from the main fight. Fortunately, the guy's weapon required both hands so he wasn't able to use any jutsu's or flying projectiles. That was the only thing good about the situation Naruto thought. Naruto knew he had to take back the initiative somehow, every minute he spent dealing with this guy would only make things harder for the rest of his team.

"Hey you got a name," Naruto said trying to stall the onslaught.

The man did not pause in his attacks but said, "My name is Iwato. One of the men who will be known as a hero who helped destroyed all of the Hidden Villages and rid the world of the ninjas." He paused in his attacks wanting to see what reaction his words would have on the boy.

Naruto couldn't believe what he had just heard. He could not comprehend why anyone would want to do that let alone be proud of it. Iwato seemed to be enjoying the shocked look on Naruto's face. It didn't matter though most of the feeling had come back to his left arm. Naruto smiled as he moved his hands into the seals for his Shadow Clone Technique.

It was Iwato's turn to look shock as he said, "You shouldn't be able to move your arm yet."

"I am Naruto Uzumaki the number one most surprising ninja in my village and the next Hokage," he said with a grin. Eight clones appeared behind him and proceeded to surround Iwato. Unfortunately, before Naruto was able to take advantage of this new turn of events Iwato raised his Bo above his head and began to spin while shouting Wind Vortex.

The wind itself wasn't the problem this time. All he had to do was lean into it a little and it wouldn't send him flying like it had before. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the shale they were standing on. The shale was being picked up by the wind and slicing through his clones and cutting into Naruto himself.

As Iwato stopped this attack, Naruto could see he was winded. He wasn't holding his Bo as high as he was before and the back part was resting on the ground. That gave him an idea. He jumped down to the bottom of the hill to get away from Iwato and performed the Shadow Clone Technique again. This time however, he created ten clones and had them surround Iwato.

"You're not a bright one," Iwato said with a sarcastic tone. "No matter how many clones you create, as long as were on this hill, my Wind Vortex will cut through them with the shale." Again shale went flying and cut through most of Naruto's clones but this time four of them stayed well clear of the debris thrown by the miniature tornado. When the attack stopped two of the clones jumped forward and grabbed a hold of the back end of the Bo staff. As he looked behind him to see why he couldn't move his staff the other two clones jumped down the hill to grab hold of the front end.

As Iwato tried to dislodge them the original Naruto was charging at him with a Rasengan. Iwato realize too late what was happening. He tried to jump out of the way but it was too late. He was sent flying down the rest of the way down the hill and into the forest by the Rasengan. Naruto took a second to consider his options yet spent a good fifteen minutes fighting Iwato and during that time the sounds of fighting from up above had died out, he wanted to know what happened. On the other hand, he didn't want Iwato making a second appearance. He decided they had to make sure he was out of commission.

He didn't need to bother. Iwato was quite dead. He had landed on a large stump and his back was clearly broken. It wasn't the first-time Naruto had seen a body, heaven knows he had seen enough of them during the Wave mission. It wasn't even his first kill but it made him feel sick to see someone bent in that unnatural position. He quickly left to see how the rest of his team was handling themselves.

* * *

Shiori was worried the plan had only gone partly as scheduled. The building had exploded when she hit it and her sensei had engaged Shigeki. However, the clones had been destroyed faster than she had expected they would be. Three of them had been destroyed by one man and he didn't strike her as the typical samurai type. On top of that, their response was not what she had expected either. Instead of all of them engaging the ANBU clones first and then proceeding to the front to counter the real attack, some of them instead had rushed to the barracks.

She cautiously emerged from her cover and began to move to a better position. She wanted to keep an eye on the barracks but she also needed to support the others. In theory she should only have to protect Otonashi, after all the others were not only from another Hidden Village, but an enemy Hidden Village.

Despite that reasoning she was going to do whatever she could to support them. Partially because they were working together now and her sensei always said "today's enemies can be tomorrow's allies." She also had a less professional reason. She had grown to like them in the brief time she had known them. Particularly Sakura she saw a bit of herself in that girl.

She had kept an eye on the one man who had destroyed three of the clones. She wanted to take him out, but if she did that now she would give away her position. However, when he used a chakra assisted jump to reach the top of the building she was going to take him out and damn the consequences. She had just lined up her shot when he jumped down the other side of the building.

She let out a curse as she saw Naruto fly through the fence and the man, go down after him. The situation had just gone from acceptable to very bad. The reasoning behind their strategy was simple; keep your back to the fence so they can't circle around you. Stay close to the others so two opponents couldn't get you in between them. Now Otonashi was alone and Sakura had to defend herself from more attackers. Fortunately, Sasuke was using some fire jutsu to devastating effect against his opponents. So she only had to concentrate on helping Otonashi and Sakura.

She started at the back of the enemies taking down the ones who were hanging back first and worked her way forward so she'd not give away her position. She worked herself into a trance like state, notched the arrow, selected a target and fired. She had done this a thousand times before. She didn't see them as people at that moment they were just targets on the range and as always she hit them dead on.

She spared a glance at the barracks after every shot but it wasn't until her ninth glance that she saw someone emerge. The man was wearing full samurai body armor. He had everything including a half facemask, a throat protector and of course thick armor. The armor was expensive looking and it didn't have many weak spots. It was rather beautiful she thought to herself. It made sense now unlike ninjas samurai needed time to prepare for battle. The counterattack was only an attempt to buy time. Before she knew what she was doing, she had already taken aim and fired an arrow at the armored figure.

The arrow's path was straight and true a perfect shot really, and completely useless. If he hadn't been wearing the armor it would've struck him straight in the heart. As it was it struck him in the chest surprising him but not causing him any harm. The worst part was she'd given away her position and he came charging right for her.

She tried to do three things all at once. The first was she tried to grab another arrow while trying to take out another exploding tag. While she was doing this she also was shouting into her radio "they're fully armored we need help!" In a corner of her mind she knew she was panicking and that would do her no good but she couldn't help it. The man was not halfway across the field as she aimed at the ground beneath him and fired.

The explosion took him out, but by this time the rest of the men had emerged all in armor. She counted seven and two of them were making their way toward her while the rest made their way to the front. She had no more exploding tags. She would have to wait until they got closer to her until she would be able to take an effective shot.

The two were smart, they match each other speed while coming at her in a pincher move. She waited until they were within ten feet of her. She fired at the one to the left, she hit him in the inner thigh and he dropped too injured to be a threat anymore. By this time the other samurai was upon her. She tried to roll out of the way of his swords' arc but it was too late. She felt white-hot pain slice into her calf.

She was able to finish the roll but blood was spurting everywhere. She was in shock and couldn't get to her feet or draw a kunai to block. She watched as death approached her in the form of a man. She could see the hatred in his eyes as he was about to bring down his sword on her. In a detached part of her mind she wondered why he seemed to be taking this so personally. Then his eyes went blank and he fell on her.

She could see a kunai had been driven into his neck between his helmet and his shoulder protection. Otonashi now stood where the man had just been standing. She wondered if she was hallucinating from lack of blood. She certainly was bleeding a lot, she thought rather detached. The pain seemed to have faded and she was feeling very tired and detached. She said "Otonashi what are you doing here the others."

"Shut up" he said cutting her off. He pushed the body off of her to get at her leg. "Shit, this isn't good," he said as he brought out his med kit and started applying pressure to the wound.

"You have to help the others" Shiori said.

"They're fine Kakashi showed up and between him and Sasuke they can deal with the rest. You on the other hand need help now."

"So did we win?" she asked.

"Just a little mopping up left. Now shut up and stop moving!"


	6. Chapter 6

Sakura winced, as a foul-smelling antiseptic was applied to her wounds. She had made it through the battle with no major injuries, except for a rather long but shallow slash on her right arm, it was not really more than a flesh wound. Minus that there were only a few scratches on her to prove that she had been in a fight. Compared to Shiori's injuries she was embarrassed that Otonashi had spent so much time treating her minor injuries.

"You better be careful Sakura, Otonashi doesn't label his medicines or poisons. You might accidentally fall over dead." Shiori laughed at her own joke from where she was sitting.

"Don't mind her it's the pain medication talking" Otonashi said, while giving the pressure bandage he had applied on Sakura arm one last glance. "It probably won't even leave a scar." Seeing her confused look he added, "It really matters how much chakra you have. You see everyone has chakra it helps maintain our internal organs. Ninjas like us are able to manipulate it for jutsu's and the like. It also has the side effect of increasing your healing abilities. In fact, if you can concentrate your chakra to a wounded area it will heal even faster."

"Thanks" Sakura said, as Otonashi began to pack up his first aid supplies. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get interested in medicine?"

Otonashi shrugged, "my sensei suggested I learn some because I'm really good at controlling my chakra. He got a medical ninja to teach me the basics. It involves a lot of book learning which isn't my favorite thing, but it's good to know." He smiled up at her still putting away his medical supplies and added "you never know when you might end up saving a teammates life." He gave a slight nod in Shiori's direction.

Shiori burst out laughing "yeah, you always did suck at learning anything from books."

Otonashi shot her glare over his shoulder "remind me not to give you any more medication. You're having an adverse reaction to it."

"Yeah, well you still owe me some pocky when we get back. Just because you helped me out doesn't mean I forgot you are a thief." She pointed at him in what she probably thought was a dramatic fashion.

Sakura thought it was a shame that Otonashi still had his back to Shiori and couldn't see it, but he had a slight smile on his face hearing Shiori comment. His smile vanished as he leaned in to tell Sakura "Keep an eye on her leg. If it starts bleeding through the bandage call me over immediately. I'm just going to check on the rest of your team and then help them destroy some of the muskets."

Sakura nodded as Otonashi walked away to where the others were. Those two had a weird relationship that made her team look normal. Still like her team though they seem to fit together somehow.

"Hey stop moving!" Shiori shout had pulled Sakura out of her thoughts. She looked over at Shiori; she was pointing one of her arrows at a prisoner who was regaining consciousness. Her aim looked a little wobbly for a marksman. It must be the painkillers Sakura thought to herself.

Shiori continued "I have no problem with putting an arrow in your back." Eleven men were about a dozen feet away from them. They either knelt with their wrists bound to their ankles or laid on the ground hogtied while still unconscious. Sakura moved forward to help the one who was regaining consciousness to sit up. It was one of the few dignities that they've been told to give the prisoners. They didn't seem at all dangerous now, that was probably because they either were still in shock or they were just in too much pain to try anything.

Sakura would have more sympathy for them if they had not tried so hard to kill her less than an hour ago. Out of all the fights she had been in this had been the worst for her. At first everything seemed to go according to plan. On her left side Naruto had sent out several clones to slow the enemy down. While on her right side Sasuke had taken out several enemies by using a beautiful Phoenix Flower. She had even been able to knock out the first samurai that she had to fight.

Then everything started to go wrong. Naruto had been blown through the fence and she had found her left side suddenly unsupported. To top that off Kakashi had been wrong these samurai did not fight one-on-one. Sakura had found herself on the defensive against two opponents, for the rest of the battle. She had been unable to help anyone else or even be aware of what was going on around her. It wasn't until Kakashi had dispatched one of her opponents with a kunai and she was able to deal with the other. She was then able to get a good look around at the battlefield again.

She had been so involved with her battle she had not noticed that Shiori had been picking off targets. Nor had she noticed the arrival of samurai in full body armor. She wasn't just disappointed that she had done so little in the battle she was disgusted with herself, she was a ninja she should be more aware of these things. After all, how could Sasuke ever love someone who was so easily tied up in a battle? He wanted to rebuild his clan and he would need a strong wife to help him do that.

As she helped the man to sit up, she thought back on her conversation she had with Shiori earlier that day. Shiori had been completely confident that they could both find a way to improve on their weaknesses. At that time Sakura had agreed with her, but had no idea how to go about it. Then she thought about the conversation she had just had with Otonashi and had an epiphany. A series of subconscious thoughts suddenly surfaced and she realize being a Medical Nin would play to her strengths. With the confidence she often had after finding the solution to a difficult problem she realizes that's what she would try for. No, she wouldn't try she would succeed inner Sakura shouted at the top of her lungs.

If she was going to do this she might as well aim high and ask the best to teach her. After all Tsunade had proven that you only underestimated a Medical Nin at your own risk. She must've had a smile on her face as she walked back to where Shiori sat.

"What's so funny" Shiori asked, already having a smile on her face. She probably had enough painkillers in her to find anything funny Sakura thought to herself.

"I think I found my strength."

"Oh so suddenly, care to share it with me."

Sakura felt a little self-conscious but said "I'm going to become a Medical Nin."

* * *

Naruto swung the hammer he was holding down as hard as he could onto the muskets triggering mechanism. The wood gave a satisfactory crack and as he lifted the hammer, he was able to see the full extent of the damage. The hammer shaped piece of metal had broken off of the musket and the barrel itself was dented. He repositioned the musket on a rock that he was using as a makeshift anvil and brought the hammer down again. 

They were supposed to destroy every musket; each was supposed to be hit in three different places, the firing mechanism, the center and the muzzle. Then they were supposed to throw them into the pit that was created by the explosion of the gunpowder storage building. He was trying to destroy more than Sasuke could, but when he saw Otonashi he dropped what he was doing and met him halfway.

"Is Sakura okay?" Naruto asked worry clearly written on his face. When he had reached the top of the hill for the second time and saw that Sakura was hurt he had felt as if his heart had been ripped out. He ran over to help her but he didn't have a first-aid kit. He realized there wasn't much he could do for her and she seemed fine, but he blamed himself for her injury. If he had noticed that Iwato guy before he had been separated from the group or hadn't bothered to check on the man he might have been able to prevent her injury.

"She's fine Naruto, it was just a flesh wound, probably won't even leave a scar. I would like to take a look at you though." He gestured towards Naruto and his torn clothing.

"Oh don't worry Otonashi, I heal fast."

"Still, you should clean even the smallest cuts infections can quickly spread from even a minor wound." As he said this, he grabbed Naruto's' arm and pulled back the sleeve, to reveal that the little cuts caused by the flying shale had completely healed.

Naruto thought the look on Otonashi's face was pretty funny. "See I heal fast. Now could you let go of my arm." He had only recently begun to realize how fast he healed compared to others. However, it was kind of nice to see somebody worry about him. Sometimes he felt that if he dropped dead only a handful of people would care. Even though he hadn't known Otonashi that long he was beginning to think he could add him onto that rather short list.

"Yeah, I suppose you do" Otonashi said in a quiet tone. He looked over Naruto shoulder and shouted at Sasuke "hey you need any medical attention."

Sasuke didn't stop with his work of destroying the muskets and just shouted back "I'm fine."

"Is he always so friendly or is he just upset that he got drafted into helping us?"

Naruto thought about that for a minute before responding. "No, he's always like that." Actually, Sasuke was acting more like a jerk than he normally did and he really didn't understand why. When he and Sakura had visited him in the hospital he seemed angry for some reason and determined to start a fight with him. He would've done just that if Kakashi had not caught up with them in the hall and dragged them on this mission. If Naruto hadn't known better, he would've sworn his sensei had somehow known what was going on and had put a stop to it.

"If you're done, you can help us with the muskets I'll smash them and you can throw them in the pit."

"How about I smash them and you throw them in the pit?"

"Nope"

"Why not?"

"It's fun to smash things and I already have the hammer." With that Naruto turned around and ignored the taller boy's protests. He would switch jobs with Otonashi eventually. There was over a hundred-seventyseven musket to destroy he knew because they had to count them. After counting all those, he wanted to have some fun first.

* * *

Kakashi left the small building they had turned into an interrogation chamber and walked over to lean on the nearby fence. He was tired having spent the last several hours interrogating all the prisoners. It wasn't that it was physically demanding just tedious. They were using a simple interrogation Genjutsu to get information out of them. 

The person who was being interrogated believed that they had somehow managed to escape and was reporting the situation to a superior in their organization. Either Kakashi or Katsuro would ask them a question. To the prisoner the one asking the questions would look like someone they knew or what they expected their superiors to look like. Even though most of the samurai were somewhat aware of Genjutsu their minds were clouded by the combination of the Genjutsu and painkillers which left their minds in a fog. Their own minds provided the details of the illusion making it even easier on the two interrogators. The only problem was they had to phrase their questions right or they'd get no answer.

When it came to Shigeki though, the simple Genjutsu would not work. His interrogation had taken the longest. It had not really been worth the effort for the information they got out of him. This Iwato guy that Naruto killed seemed to be his only contact to this council. Since he was dead now they couldn't get the information from his corpse.

The little information they did get out of the samurais was disturbing. They all belong to an organization that had two goals. To introduce a caste system which would put the samurai on top and destroying all of the hidden villages. Unfortunately, they all seemed to be fairly low in the organization and could not provide much more information beyond that. Such questions as how large was their organization and where was it based they could not answer.

Their former associaties did not provide any clues either. Some had been former vassals of daimyo's others had been simple Ronin. The only thing they seemed to have in common was that they all had been recruited into the organization specifically because they were familiar with making weapons. There seemed to be at least three men who had done the recruiting their name sometimes changed but their descriptions remained the same. If they could find one of these three men they could get more information.

With nothing else left to consider, he allowed his mind to drift to their reasoning for joining this organization. It was well-intentioned if self-righteous and self serving he thought. They blamed all of the world's problems on the ninjas. According to them because ninjas worked for the highest bidder that was why there was war, poverty and disease. If only the samurai were in charge all the problems would be fixed. After all, the samurai had their own code of conduct they follow unlike the ninjas who did as they pleased.

Kakashi shook his head in silent amazement wondering how these men were able to deceive themselves in such a fashion it struck him as childish. He remembered the recent mission to the Wave Country.Gato had no trouble hiring samurai to do his dirty work. Of course, these men probably wouldn't consider themselves the same as those samurai though legally and socially there was no difference between these men and the two that had been sent to kidnap Inari.

Kakashi watched from the corner of his eye as Katsuro joined him in leaning against the fence. For a few minutes they stood in silence until Katsuro spoke up. "If I had to listen to one more minute of that self righteous bull I would have to throw myself off this cliff."

Kakashi decided to take this opportunity to bait his companion into revealing a bit more about himself. "I really can't blame them for wanting to try to create a more peaceful world."

Katsuro looked shocked at that comment and said, "You can't be serious? It's idiots like that which led to the Lotus war sixty-five years ago! I know Konohagakure may remember that slightly differently, but try to remember the thousands of deaths that resulted." He emphasized his point by drawing a kunai and embedding it deep into one of the post.

The Lotus war referred to an event that happened about sixty-five years ago. It had been caused by a religious sect that had managed to master many of the arts of the ninjas. The sect tried to do good with their abilities, not accepting money for their deeds and defending the defenseless. It grew in popularity over the years.

Inevitably, the sect was corrupted and their leader was installed as the daimyo of the Lotus Country. It was believed that he would have his followers form in other hidden village once he had that position. Then everything could return to normal. In fact that was the reason why rulers of the surrounding countries allowed him to ascend to the then vacant Lotus countries daimyo position.

Their leader had other ideas he believed it was his right not only to rule one country but the entire continent. He said this was the only way to bring lasting peace to the continent. After their defeat, the then small Fire Country was permitted to annex the land of the Lotus Country. It almost tripled the size of the Fire Country which was one of the reasons why it was experiencing such economic prosperity now. More importantly it had created the circumstances that led to the founding for Konohagakure.

Katsuro response was interesting Kakashi thought. It was fine for a genin to occasionally let his emotions rule but a jonin should not especially, if he had been put in charge of a genin team. He wondered if this meant that the quality of Kumo latest ninjas was dropping or was this jonin just a special circumstance or had he arrived at his current position by playing the political game. The way Kumogakure promoted its ninjas was different then all the other villages. It relied a lot more on their direct superior's approval.

Of course, he could be reading too much into this. Besides his rapid change in emotions he couldn't find fault with the man. He had successfully drafted team seven into helping him complete his mission after all. Even though the plan the two of them had worked out hadn't gone off without a hitch, it had succeeded. Kakashi had to remember not to allow his personal dislike for the man to affect his analysis. Perhaps his rapid change in emotions was just an eccentricity like many ninjas acquired. That reminded him this was the longest he had gone without reading his book in some time.

Katsuro spoke up again this time his tone seemed grave. "I'm going to suggest to our Raikage that we send a report of this incident to all villages. I can probably convince him to send a report to our allies. I suggest you do the same thing for yours." He shook his head and continued, "if we all work together we might be able to stop this before it becomes something more serious. Unfortunately, we've never been good at sharing information before."

Kakashi gave a nod in agreement. "To give an accurate report, I will need to know how you knew the materials were being shipped here."

Katsuro shrugged, "we searched through records of shipping companies." He hastily added "Not with their consent of course." He laughed at his joke and continued, "It's the only shipping company in Tanzaku City you can find it easily enough."

"Okay, what do you want to do with the prisoners now?"

"Originally, I was going to take them back to Kumogakure and let the village deal with them. I can't do that now with Shiori's injury. I'm probably going to have to carry her on my back all the way home as it is. The only reason they're not causing any trouble now is because they're defeated. If they see a chance to escape they'll take it. So, you want to take them?"

"No, we won't get any more information out of them," Kakashi said firmly. This was one of the things he knew he wasn't going to like about this mission. Under normal circumstances, all he would have to do was accomplish his mission and if there were any prisoners they would be either handed over to local officials or released. This time however, they had created "forbidden weapons" and there was only one punishment for that.

"I figured you'd say that. Well unless you want your genin's to see some executions, I suggest you get out of here."

With a nod of acknowledgment Kakashi went to collect his team. If they left now they could still have three hours of daylight before setting up camp. It was one thing to see someone die on a mission, an inevitable part of their trade. Executions were different they were rare and something most ninjas try to avoid participating in. He knew there was no other choice. The knowledge in their heads was simply too dangerous to leave any possibility that they might pass it on to someone else. Regardless, if he could prevent his students from witnessing it he would.

* * *

Otonashi was only half listening as Shiori gave her part of the report to their sensei. He had half convinced himself that his sensei forgot about the little punishment. Actually, he had been hoping for it, he didn't mind giving away information about the girl or the self-absorbed Uchiha. They would most likely just confirm their own sensei's opinion of them. When it came to Naruto though, he may actually have found out something worthwhile. 

He had been in the unique position to notice two things about the boy that the others had not. The first was that when he lost control after being hit with the cayenne pepper extract his eyes changed color and he seem to be unaffected by it. Most people would have fallen over incapacitated. Instead, of the normal response he had seemed to go berserk on him. If Naruto's sensei had not jumped in there was a real possibility he could be dead. The second thing he had noticed was his rapid healing. Taken individually he could draw many conclusions, but when put together there were few options.

At first he presumed he was a berserker. A berserker was someone who would lose control in combat when in enough pain. The healing could be written off as the beginning of an advanced bloodline. The possibility of these two instances coming together in one person was almost impossible. If it was not for an earlier incident in his life he would've had no choice but to accept it as one in a million coincidences that happens.

He wanted to just write it off but he wasn't sure if he could. When he was attending the Academy, he had an older friend who was a genin. Well, he really hadn't been a friend just someone who had taken an interest in him. It really wasn't that uncommon for an older genin to sort of adopt an Academy student and help them along.

One day he had been invited to watch a spar between him and another genin a girl. It had started off fine but it got out of hand and the girl got hurt really bad. That's when things got scary she seemed to go crazy and it took two jonin to restrain her. When they had wrestled her to the ground, eight-year-old Otonashi had locked eyes with a demon for the first time in his life and hoped it would be his last. Her eyes had turned feral, he had been so terrified that he had literally wet his pants and ran away.

It took three hours for his friend to find him and explain what happened. The girl was part of a very important family that had accepted a very important burden. There was no reason to be scared of her she just had not mastered complete control over her tenant. For generations her family's predecessors had protected the village. On one occasion one of her predecessors had saved the village single-handedly. She was very important to the village and should be treated with respect. It was his fault that she had lost control. He had been trying to show off and pushed her too far. There was no reason to be afraid of her.

The problem was the eyes; Naruto's eyes had been the same color red as hers had been back then. He could recall when he had seen his eyes go from that calm blue to that feral red. At first he was able to write it off but with the rapid healing there wasn't a choice. He had no reason not to report this to his superior in fact he was obligated to report it. Eventually, his report would arrive on the Raikage's desk and he would likely decide that this threat should be eliminated now. Otonashi didn't want that hanging over his head. He had liked Naruto. He seemed to be one of those people it was very hard not to like. Even though he probably would never meet him again, he didn't want to be responsible for his death.

So, when it was his turn to tell what he had found out about the genin he left his little theory out. All he said about him was he was a good genin and he probably would be a chunin soon. He was very nervous; he had never lied to his sensei before. That was why he did not catch on immediately to why he was being told to take Shiori to their camp.

It wasn't until he was halfway back to the camp with Shiori on his back that he realized the prisoners were being executed. He did not know how to feel about that. If it was ever found out, that he had kept such a secret from his village he could easily find himself being executed for treason. That sent a shiver up his spine.


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura had been dragging her feet as they came closer to home. Usually she was just as excited as Naruto to return, but for very different reasons. For him it meant a trip to his favorite Ramen restaurant was in the near future. For her it meant clean clothes, a chance to take a bath and a home-cooked meal.

The reason for her reluctance to return home was the promise that she had made to both herself and Shiori. What was she thinking when she had said, she was going to study under one of the greatest medical ninjas in history. At the time it seemed so simple, after all Naruto had convinced one of the legendary Sanninto to train him for at least awhile. If he could do that how hard would it be for her to do the same?

That had been her reasoning at least. Although in hindsight, the only reason that thought had lasted so long was because she had been too busy to think about it. Once they were able to resume their original mission, Kakashi had left them saying he had to make a report to the Hokage immediately. This had left her in charge of the rest of the mission by default. Sasuke couldn't bring himself to care about following the correct procedures in this situation, and Naruto would probably try his hardest but screw up in the end.

In fact she had almost lost it with their client herself. He had raised a fuss because a jonin hadn't been there in the end to deliver the final message. She had to patiently and calmly convince him to pay the full fee. The entire time she had to ignore the voice in the back of her head. Inner Sakura was telling her to do things to this man that would probably result in him never hiring a Konoha ninja again. D ranked mission's paid little as it was and being stiffed on a successful completed mission was not something she wanted to report back. Civilians always seemed to put too much emphasis on empty ceremonies she thought.

After that minor headache was out of the way she had begun to think about herself. She had changed since she had graduated from the Academy but in very subtle ways when compared to her teammates. For example, the supply she had taken on this mission bared little resemblance to what she had taken on her first long-distance mission. When they had departed for the Wave country she had brought among other frivolous things several changes of clothes and a ton of hair products. This time she had brought one change of clothes and a hair brush. This subtle change had only been met with a silent nod of approval from Kakashi.

Things like that didn't really make her stand out from other Kunoichi or any other potential apprentice for that matter. She didn't have any special abilities like Ino did or a bloodline like Hinata did. Either of them would probably make a better apprentice than she would. The only thing she had going for her was her determination. When she set her sights on something she did not give up easily. She would fulfill her promise; she just was not looking forward to it.

For the first time in her life Sakura actually admired something about Naruto. He had always had an oblivious attitude towards his superior's. She couldn't imagine herself demanding that the third Hokage give her a real mission like he had. Of course, what she was going to ask of the fifth was much more than just a mission.

Sasuke had stopped walking and turned to speak to her, "Sakura are you okay? You're walking rather slowly?"

She could feel her face turn red in embarrassment. She really hadn't expected them not to notice her slow pace. After all, she had turned the three day return trip into a four. She just had hoped that neither of them would comment on it. "I'm fine Sasuke, I must have hurt my leg in the fight it's just acting up a little."

From the look on his face he probably hadn't bought the excuse, but Naruto chose that moment to interject his own question. "Hey Sakura, you want me to carry you on my back so you don't have to walk on it? He asked with a huge grin on his face."

He just had to butt in and ruin the moment. "I am fine Naruto" she snapped at him, as she sped up leaving the two of them behind. Why couldn't it have been Sasuke to make that offer?

Their little side mission seemed to have help resolve some of the tension that had been within the team Sakura thought. Things weren't back to normal within her team, but they had improved. Whatever Naruto had done to annoy Sasuke back at the hospital it had apparently been forgiven if not forgotten.

As they approached the main gates of Konoha Sakura's anxiety grew. She really wished she hadn't had so much time to think about her decision. She jumped in surprise as a Chunin guard addressed them. "Team seven I am to accompany you to the Hokage office immediately." She had heard that tone many times before but it had never been directed at her, they were in trouble.

She shot a glared over at Naruto, he hadn't pulled any pranks since he had graduated or at least that's what she had thought. If he had done something that could get both her and Sasuke in trouble she was going to kill him. Completely oblivious to her rather violent thoughts she was directing towards him, Naruto simply shrugged at her glare.

"It's probably about the thing" Sasuke said quietly enough so that their escort wouldn't hear them.

It took Sakura a moment to figure out what Sasuke meant by that, the damn muskets thing again.

* * *

Naruto looked around in amazement as they followed their escort into the Hokage's office. For the first time he could recall Tsunade's desk was completely devoid of paperwork. "Oi, what did you do with all your paperwork, hide it under the ceiling tiles? He eyed at the ceiling as if expecting it to collapse any second. 

Freezing at the glare Tsunade was directing at him he had the familiar feeling of being in trouble. For the first time in his life he was completely innocent. He was about to start protesting, when he was cut off by a dismissive gesture made by Tsunade. Their escort wasted no time in his retreat, not wanting to witness the wrath of an angry Hokage. Naruto was starting to get that tight sick feeling in his stomach which he only felt after disappointing someone important to him.

"Team seven" Tsunade began in a grave and serious tone "you are hereby to be commended for your recent actions."

"What!" Naruto shouted as he leaned over her desk so he could shout at her more efficiently. "Why did you make us believe we were in trouble if you were going to congratulate us?" He was going to say a lot more when Tsunade used one of her fingers to send him flying across the room.

"I thought you of all people would enjoy a practical joke." She smiled as she continued "there are some things we have to discuss about your last mission. Naruto according to Kakashi's report you fought the second ninja. Tell me about him."

Climbing to his feet Naruto frowned in concentration. He didn't understand why she cared about this but she was the Hokage.

Frowning in concentration Naruto began describing the man the best way he could. "He wore the same type of clothes that those Grass ninjas wore. The ones we fought during the Chunin exams. He fought with a" he trailed off.

His mind blanked when he came to the exact name of the weapon. He tried to remember back to a book they had to read while at the Ninja Academy. It had described dozens of weapons that they might come across in the field and how they might be used against them. So many of them had looked alike, he couldn't remember all their names. The weapon had been something basic, the answer suddenly came to him "aBo! It was longer than usual and when he hit me in the arm it made me feel a little numb. He only used one jutsu I don't remember what he called it, but it was like a small tornado." Making a face Naruto continued, "It wasn't really all that powerful of an attack."

"Did he say anything during the fight?

"He said he was a ninja, but he said it like it was a bad thing."

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling considering the new information. After several minutes surprisingly Sasuke was the one to break the silence. "I don't understand why any of this is important."

"It's actually rather simple, consider the situation. A middle-age ninja abandons his village for no obvious reason; he doesn't try to become a mercenary or a hermit. Instead, he gets mixed up in some organization which we've never heard of. They are able to set up a complete blacksmith shop in the backwaters of a backwater country. To top this all off another ninja is his contact to this organization.

"We want to identify him so we can follow his trail back to someone else. At first we thought he was a ninja that was not affiliated with a village. Unfortunately, the facts no longer support that theory. We could write off his clothes, but using basic medical knowledge to numb parts of the body in a fight is a fairly unique fighting style only use by a small portion of Grass ninjas. Considering he doesn't seem to be proud of being a ninja he was probably working as a spy for this organization."

Shizune chose this moment to enter the Hokage's office with paperwork stacked so high she couldn't see over it. "Good news Hokage-sama I was finally able to find your paperwork. For some reason, Izumo and Kotetsu were under the impression that you had moved your office for some reason. Oh, sorry I didn't know you were still in the middle of this."

Waving Shizune foreword she pulled out a sheet of paper from her desk along with three envelopes. The Hokage straightened in her chair and summoned a more serious attitude about her. "Team seven, your last mission along with all details discussed in this office are hereby classified. That means you are not to discuss the details with anyone not even with each other."

She held up the paper that she had taken from her desk. "This will be the official report on your mission. Officially it was completed satisfactorily however, on your way home you were involved in an altercation at a roadside restaurant for which the village was sent the bill. This is why you were rushed to my office and will also be your excuse for your injuries." Cutting Naruto off before he could object she explained. "The real report has already been filed at the ANBU headquarters. Sign your name at the bottom and pick up your pay. You're free to do whatever until Kakashi gets back from his new mission. Dismissed.

Shizune watched as Naruto signed the report before passing on her message. "I ran into Iruka downstairs, he wants to talk to you as soon as you were back. If you hurry you still might catch him." She couldn't help but smile as his face lit up and he ran out of the room, while shouting thanks over his shoulder. Shizune couldn't remember the last time something so simple had made her so happy.

She was about to start handing over some of the paperwork to Tsunade but paused. "Sakura is there something you need?"The girl had stayed behind while her two teammates had left. She was obviously nervous about something.

"Hokage-sama with all due respect I would like to request that you take me on as an apprentice."

The silence that followed her statement was long and uncomfortable. Shizune was about to start explaining why the Hokage really couldn't take on an apprentice when Tsunade broke the silence.

"You understand any training I would give you would be in addition to your training under Kakashi. You also would be expected to continue to do some missions with team seven." Sakura nodded. "Well then" she said with a smile, "let's get started right away. First I want to see how good your chakra control is."

Shizune suddenly found herself alone in the office. She couldn't quite understand what had just happened. As her thoughts finally caught up with what just transpired she could only say one thing, "Hokage-sama you haven't done any of your paperwork yet.

* * *

The Land of Red Beans shared a border with the Land of Earth to its north and to its south laid the Land of Wind. Caught between these two great nations it was largely seen as a buffer zone. In reality it had one of the largest standing armies on the continent, but with no hidden village it was not considered a military threat. Its large castles and army of samurai were considered an anachronism. 

This view would only be strengthened by anyone who set eyes on the capital. The buildings were not impressive few extended higher than two-stories and all were made completely out of wood. There was no sign of cement or steal used in any quantity. Even glass was a rarity. However, this was more of a result of the tax placed on sheets of glass used for windows then for any ecstatic reason. Most homes and businesses relied on the old wooden shutters to keep out the rain and burglars.

The only part of the city that did not look as if it had been pulled from a painting was the harbor. It was here where the tableau of an ancient city was broken. Several large ships constructed out of steel were anchored in the harbor. These ships were designed to go further out to sea than any other ship could imagine, but the fact they were made out of steel was what made them truly unique. A strict interpretation of the Forbidden List would result in their immediate destruction and the deaths of all involved in their construction. Fortunately, they could not easily be turned to the purpose of war so they fell within a gray area. It also helped that they kept the price of fish low which pleased more people then it annoyed.

Etsushi never got tired of this view particularly the ships. To him it represented the self serving attitude of the current order. The ninjas who were suppose to be the guardians of the Forbidden List turned a blind eye to them because they were useful.

He had long ago come to the conclusion that the Forbidden List was a mere excuse for the ninjas to hold onto their power. It wasn't enough for them to posses' inhuman powers. They had frozen society in a form that they could control and profit from. For generations ninjas had sold their services to whomever would pay their price and the world had slowly descended into its current lowly state. Soon though the world would be restored to its former glory and it would start in this small country.

"Sir with your permission we will begin the test."

Etsushi turned his attention back to the chief engineer and nodded in consent. He listened as orders were shouted in the sound of the generator starting in the distance. For a moment the water in the moat seemed to do nothing and then it started to slowly bubble causing the water to explode into action. Water formed miniature whirlpools that only lasted for a second as white foam formed on the surface. More and more bubbles rose from the bottom making the top a massive churning chaos.

This went on for a full minute and then as suddenly as it began it stopped. Etsushi listened as the engineer shouted for reports in an attempt to find out what had gone wrong. Etsushi knew not to get involved, now he would just wait for the final report. The engineer soon turned to him and bowed in forgiveness. "Sir I regret to inform you that the test has failed again. I can offer no excuse for this failure."

Etsushi nodded in acknowledgment and said calmly "call me when you have fixed it." With that he turned to reenter the castle. Normally delays in construction were not lightly tolerated, but like most of the renovations the castle had undergone in the past three years they were in uncharted waters. For example, what he had just witnessed had never been attempted before. It was designed to disrupt the density of the water. This would make it impossible for ninjas to run across the moat by using their chakra. For such a goal delays had to be tolerated.

This castle had always been the stronghold for this country. Long before the time of the ninja when samurai were the weapons of choice this castle had struck fear in the hearts of an enemy. It had been called many names but officially it was known as the Shining Palace. Of course its fierce reputation and walls that had broken the backs of numerous armies had not saved the daimyos of the past from being assassinated. The ninjas had brought death to them as easily as if they were standing in the middle of a field.

That would now be in the past. The Shining Palace would soon be feared again and known as the first ninja prove castle in recorded history. Largely this would be due to the improvements, but its fearsome reputation was well deserved. It had been built a few miles away from the capital on a slight rise in the forests of the Red Beans country. First a deep moat had been dugged out of the ground twelve to eighteen feet across and twentyfive feet in depth. A nearby river had been temporarily diverted to fill it. The bridges that crossed the moat were set at an angle to increase their length. There had been three sets of walls that surrounded the Keep. The Keep had been built a slight rise and rose eight stories into the air. Overall the castle's walls enclose about four square miles and were intended to hold sixty thousand samurai along with enough provisions for seven years. Unfortunately, it currently had less than six thousand samurai.

That had been what it looked like before the improvements. Now the first wall had been thicken and was now a height of fifteen feet. More importantly then the new height was the barb needles that were sticking out of the plaster every two inches gave the outside the appearance of a porcupine making it hard to climb. The buildings on the inside had something similar on the roof. In addition, the walls now had loopholes in them. Loopholes were slots in the walls where defenders could drop stones and shoot arrows without exposing themselves. Above them was a platform where additional soldiers could stand and fight from. The force had been cleared for a mile around the castle to deny cover to approaching ninjas. These were the obvious changes.

This country and this castle was the perfect place to start tearing down the corrupt ninja order. This country still held the samurai in high regard and ninjas were seen as the cowardly murders they were. Thoughts of the future brought a smile to his face but were chased away as a breeze brought the smell of the sea to him. Every time he smelled the sea he remembered that he was a foreigner to this country and could never really call it his home.

He picked up his pace trying to push the memories of his past away. He entered a fairly nondescript building where he had a meeting to go to and no good news to report. Before entering the room he paused to straighten his kosode and flicked a piece of dust off the crest he wore. He admired it for a moment this little symbol represented so much to him it was the proof that he served a lord. The little dragonfly had been carefully embroidered on all his clothes.

He entered the room and kowtowed in deference and respect to his Lord before joining the group to begin the informal meeting. At the head of the group was their Lord himself Mitsuhide Tenzo an old man but wise, he had been the one to start all this. Despite the fact that he was almost blind and well into his seventies his mind missed nothing and could still move with the speed of someone forty years his junior.

To his right sat his only son, Nagoya Tenzo, he was in his late twenties and still had the arrogance of youth. He only recently started to show the signs that would make him a leader worth following. In truth he reminded Etsushi of himself when he was younger. Though he never had the looks or the time to chase women as Nagoya did.

Of the other five men only one was worth noting. He was a Buddhist warrior monk and because of his Buddhist hood which concealed everything but his eyes, Etsushi was not sure of his identity yet. It could be any of three men but he would not know until he spoke. These men had originally been brought in to the conspiracy in hopes that they could do something about the ninjas summoning capabilities. It always seemed to him that "summoning" would be based in the supernatural but they claimed ignorance of any way to prevent it. Despite this they had proved their usefulness in many other ways.

After the events of the Lotus war fifty years ago any religious sects that were armed had experienced a crackdown. Funding had become scarce and so had new members. This had destroyed most of them while the rest were finished off by direct military action by their neighbors who coveted their land. They had survived because they were based on an island and had an excellent intelligence network. During routine incursions by the Mist they had become experts at fighting ninjas. In some ways they would welcome the destruction of the ninjas almost as much as the samurai.

The rest of the men present were businessmen who had provided the funding for the upgrades to the castle and soon would turn their resources to aid in the upcoming war. They were useful but in the end though they were in it for the money that would flow to them with the relaxing of the Forbidden List. One of them even represented a consortium of foreign businessmen who saw opportunities in the downfall of the hidden villages. In truth he had never bothered to remember their names.

Mitsuhide began the meeting with one word "report."

Etsushi bowed his head as he began. "I regret to report that the moat's defense system failed again." He paused to allow that information to register before reporting his much graver news. "Also, the report from our facility in the Honey country is overdue. I have sent one of my most trusted personal retainers to check on the facility but I believe we should consider the worst case scenario."

"Aren't you overreacting to a late report? Spies really can't be expected to always run on schedule, when you consider their work." Nagoya spoke up from where he sat next to his father.

The monk spoke up in Etsushi defense and in a very low wispy tone that identified him immediately as Ekei and said, "I must concur with Etsushi opinion. If Iwato is late then something must have happened to him. I recruited him myself he was completely devoted to our cause. He believed it was repentance for his past misdeeds."

It was lost on no one that Ekei was speaking in the past tense. Silence descended on the group as the possible repercussions played out in all of their minds. Nagoya asked the obvious question "can anything there be traced back to us?"

"No, those we recruited to work there had no traceable connections to anyone here. That is as long as the shipping company is no longer in business," Ekei said turning his attention to a mousy looking civilian.

The man cringed away from the sudden attention as he began to speak. "Well you see ruining another person's business is not as easy as you might think."

This is why Etsushi couldn't stand the rest of the men on the Council, you never got a straight answer out of them. "Is there still a paper trail or not?"

"There is."

"Ekei can you have one of your spies torch the building?" Ekei nodded in acknowledgement.

"Considering this recent information perhaps we should move on to stage three of our plan despite our recent setbacks," Mitsuhide said speaking up for the first time since the meeting began.

Stage three was the last step before opened warfare with the hidden villages. It involved the spreading of propaganda among the people to gain support for their cause and a general recruitment drive for more samurai. Also, the foundries within their land would stop producing their famous bells that could be found in almost any temple and start producing cannons.

It was put to a vote despite their difference in social class they were all equal when it came to the planning of the ninjas downfall. Each brought their own specialty to the group and all had to agree before the plan could advance. The vote was unanimous they would move one step closer to achieving their goal. The stage was now being set for a war the likes of which the continent had not seen in decades.


	8. Chapter 8

Tsunade managed to keep her facial expression neutral as she dismissed the messenger. Once the door had shut, she slumped in her chair and sighed. When she had ordered copies of Kakashi's report to be disseminated among other hidden villages, she had been fishing for information. She was hoping that some other village might have heard rumors of an organization plotting the downfall of the hidden villages, but had been keeping it under wraps much like they were with the Akatsuki organization. The last thing she had been expecting was to hear that a small insignificant village had stole Konoha's most feared kekkei genkai.

This really was the last thing Konohagakure needed right now. Between the Akatsuki and Orochimaru invasion of Konoha, it was becoming hard to keep up the appearance of normality to the outside world. In some ways Kakashi's recent discovery of forbidden weapons had been a blessing in disguise. It would give pause to anyone considering capitalizing on their weakness.

"Lady Tsunade, is it really possible that the Sharingan could have been stolen so easily?"

"I really hope not Shizune, but it is possible. There really isn't that many ways to steal kekkei genkai. Normally a village would try to acquire a body or kidnap someone who possesses it. Like when Kumogakure tried to obtain the Byakugan, but even after attaining a specimen it would still take resources beyond most small villages to make any use of it. In comparison having a young kunoichi throw herself at an Uchiha is fairly simple. Of course you would run the risk of the child not being able to activate their kekkei genkai, but that's would be a risk they would probably take considering what they might gain."

The silence that followed Tsunade's explanation lasted until Shizune asked the obvious "what are you going to do about this Hokage?"

Actually she would prefer not to do anything about this. Between their recent losses, increasing their security and now this musket thing they were officially overextended. Unfortunately, the Konoha's Advisory Council would not accept that reasoning. Certain members of the Advisory Council would order this kid assassinated without hesitation if it meant protecting the Sharingan. They had enough power to circumvent her authority right now. There were only two things that could be done, either have the child move to Konoha or have him assassinated and that was something she was not prepared to do. Tsunade could still remember every detail of her brother's mutilated body. She wouldn't order this kid's murder.

For a moment she allowed herself to curse the third. Why had he allowed the Advisory Council to gain so much power? Her sensei had trusted his old teammates too much by delegating authority to them that was rightfully the Hokage's. Why had he not realized the troubles it would cause for his successor? She was trying to restore the Hokage power to what it had been in her grandfather's time. Which only partially explained why, she always had so much paperwork on her desk.

Coming out of her thoughts Tsunade remembered that Shizune was still waiting for an order, "I want to have Kakashi report to me when he gets back with the investigation team." After a moment of thought she added, "And have Sasuke Uchiha there as well." After all, this child's father had been an Uchiha and thus he would be a member of their clan. In the meantime she would have to figure out how exactly she could convince a village to give up a child that they had put so much work into.

She could not recall much about this hidden village, so she started by reading the intelligence file on them. Kemurigakure Village Hidden in Smoke was located in the Grass country near the border with Rain. It was founded during a conflict between the two countries when a small group of ninjas defected from Rain to Grass, but chose not to join Kusagakure. She skipped several pages to come across the more recent information. The quality of its ninjas had been steadily declining since its founding while still producing the occasional genius. However, as of ten years ago there had been a noticeable improvement in the quality of the genin that participated in the chunin exam.

The last sentence had caused her to pause. In the messengers report he had estimated that the child's age had been between eight and nine. She looked back on some of the pages she had skipped earlier and discovered Kemurigakure had installed a new leader about ten years ago. It wasn't exactly confirmation but it was one hell of a coincidence and she really didn't believe in those.

Over the next several hours Tsunade allowed her mind to slowly form a plan. No matter how hard she tried, all of her plans seemed to rely heavily on implied threats. Losing Kemurigakure as an ally might be the price they would have to pay in order to ensure that there would not be a rival to their Uchiha clan. If this had happened before the Uchiha massacre, rivalry would not have been a problem. Now both villages had the same number of Uchiha in them. It certainly had been a fortunate turn of events for them when Itachi decided to wipe out most of his family.

It was late in the afternoon when Kakashi arrived back with the investigation team. Coming into the Hokage's office Kakashi was greeted a bit too enthusiastically by Shizune, which was his first clue that something was wrong. Handing over his written report he said, "There wasn't much left of the blacksmith shop. After executing the prisoners the Kumogakure team then torched the buildings.

"We did find two things of interest though. One of the investigating team members thought there was something funny about the samurai armor. It is being tested now and the other thing is we found a discarded Hitai-ate near the entrance. It was from Grass." Kakashi trailed off the Hokage had that strange look in her eyes, as if any minute she was going to pull out another S class mission for him from her desk.

"Kakashi I am sending you on a very important diplomatic mission."

* * *

Resting under a tree in one of the training fields of Konoha, Sasuke sat trying to figure out what he had accomplished. During the one-month training period before the final stage of the Chunin exam he had manage to increase his speed and learn a new jutsu. His skills had improved more in that one month than they had at any other time in his life, but since then he felt as if he had been standing still compared to his teammates.

Naruto had improved the most out of the three of them; growing from an incompetent idiot to someone he would want to test his abilities against. Sasuke also wanted to see if he could draw out his full potential. During his fight with Gaara he had shown incredible strength. However, he had also shown that he could not reliably draw upon that strength which really didn't make any sense. Then there was Sakura she had not improved as dramatically as Naruto, but she had saved his life during their mission to the land of Tea. A part of himself was happy for his teammates. Despite his best efforts he had grown to care about them. They were his first friends and he didn't want to see them get hurt.

However, in a darker part of his soul the part that wanted to stand over the broken body of the murderer of his family, the part that wanted to watch as the life drain from his brother's eyes he hated them. They were holding him back, the training with Kakashi proved it. If it wasn't for them and those stupid missions he had to go on he would be closer to avenging his family.

His hand drifted to the curse seal on the back of his neck. There was a lot of power to be had there if only he could control it. It wouldn't be enough to kill Itachi but it would bring him closer to that goal. He was so lost in his thoughts he did not notice the messenger approach and was completely caught off guard as he spoke. "Sasuke Uchiha the Hokage requests your presence at a meeting."

Getting up to follow the man he let out a curse under his breath. He had been under the impression that they were in the clear until Kakashi got back from his recent mission. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the village was in a tight spot now but if he had to clean up one more river bank or walk somebody's dog he was going to well he didn't know what he would do. He was slightly surprised when he was told to go directly to the Hokage's office instead of the mission room. He was even more surprise to find Kakashi already there but not the rest of his team. This gave him hope that it might be another question about the muskets then a dumb mission.

"Sasuke" the Hokage began "I understand you have two goals in life to avenge your family and rebuild your clan." The question was rhetorical and she didn't pause for an answer. "Well it looks like you're going to have a head start on the second part of your dream. We have found another person who possesses the Sharingan."

Sasuke stood there in shock. He could not believe what he had just been told it was impossible, only the Uchiha possessed the Sharingan and they were all dead. Itachi had been very thorough about that, killing everyone from his great-uncle who had been confined to his bed to a baby cousin of his. He wanted to shout that was impossible they were all dead and buried. He was the last true possessor of Sharingan the last Uchiha. When he opened his mouth to point all of this out the words got caught in his throat. All that could come out was "not possible."

Kakashi looked down at Sasuke with sympathy. As he took up the briefing "It appears that eight or nine years ago someone in your family had a brief relationship with someone from Kemurigakure whether they knew it or not. From that an illegitimate child was born. It was a mere accident that we were able to find out even now."

"And how exactly did you find out now?" Sasuke's voice sounded strange to him quiet and distant.

"I ordered censored copies of Kakashi's report hand-delivered to allied villages, because of the seriousness of the report, I chose not to entrust this to the Courier Ninja. After delivering the report they were supposed to wait around for a response. The messenger that was sent to Kemurigakure claims to have seen a boy use the Sharingan to copy a jutsu that was being used in an exhibition match. He had previously served twenty years with the Konoha's military police."

"You're telling me, all you have to back this claim up is the sightings of a senile old man. That's crazy!" Sasuke new he had just crossed a line but what they were saying was insane.

"It doesn't matter" the Hokage's tone had lost all emotion. "Even if there is the smallest possibility that the Uchiha's kekkei genkai is possessed by another village it must be investigated. If the story is true the boy must come to Konoha after all his father was an Uchiha. That would make him a relative of yours and since you are the clan head by default he is your responsibility. Team seven leaves tomorrow dismissed."

After Sasuke had left the office the Hokage let out a sigh. "That could have gone better" the Hokage said to Kakashi.

"He is in shock, he'll do okay. This might even be good for him. Now, what's this about Sakura becoming your apprentice?

Sasuke didn't remember what he did right after leaving the Hokage's office it was all a blur. The next thing he did remember was standing in front of the Uchiha district. The last time he had been here it had been right after the massacre and he had avoided it ever since. He didn't know why his subconscious had brought him here. He didn't know why he felt the need to go in.

It hadn't changed much since the last time he had been here. The buildings had been long devoid of people but did not have an abandoned look about them. The windows were not broken and the roofs hadn't collapsed. They looked as if they were just waiting for people to move in.

This was not by accident he had paid for their up keep. It was something he never really thought about but he was probably one of the richest non-merchant people in Konoha. The Uchiha clan had been fairly large and most had been well off. He had inherited all of it after they were murdered. The meager cost of the upkeep of the buildings had hardly made a dent in it.

Walking through the abandoned district he was assaulted by memories. They overlapped in a confused jumble. He stared at the place where he used to stop and talk with his aunt and uncle, then he remembered the night he found them dead and then there was the Mangekyo Sharingan vision which Itachi had shown him. His uncle vainly trying to protect his aunt and watching them fall like leaves from a tree again and again.

For a moment he thought he could taste the blood that was spilled that night before realizing he had bit through his lower lip. He forced himself to move on, why was he doing this? For whatever reason he started walking towards the house he had grown up in. His steps echoed to the empty streets, the sounds of the village did not penetrate into the Uchiha district.

Entering his old house he paused to remove his sandals more out of habit than anything else. He stopped when he came to the kitchen he had many memories of his mother in this kitchen. He also remembered the last time his family sat down to have a meal together. Had Itachi planned how he would kill them all here? How could he have sat calmly eating while intending to murder everyone who loved him within a few hours?

Sasuke quickly left the house and went to the courtyard with the small pond in it. He looked at the dock where his father taught him his first jutsu it had not aged well. Thinking of his father he realized why he had come here. His father had been the clan head and he never really been acknowledged by him. All Sasuke had ever really wanted was those few words of acknowledgment that he had never received from him and now never could. Now he might be a clan head without the approval from his predecessor. He had not even managed to avenge their deaths yet and he was expected to be the head?

For a moment he wanted to destroy everything, burn everything to the ground. Forget this burden that these empty buildings around him represented. If he did that Itachi would win. Subconsciously he realized that he had always intended to move back to these buildings and restart his clan, but not so soon. He had wanted to visit their graves and say I have avenged you, before taking the title of head. He didn't know if he could handle it.

* * *

From the castle walls Etsushi watched as the sun had set. He was trying to integrate the new weapon design into his tactics. He would admit he was impressed. The manufacturers had only had the design for the weapon a few days. They had not even cast their first cannon and they were already coming up with improvements and variations on the initial design.

The guards knew better than to disturb him when he was up here meditating. So it annoyed him that someone was standing behind him waiting to get his attention. "What do you want?" The raspy laughed that answered his question drew his full attention.

"Etsushi I would like to believe, that I was not able to sneak up on you, even though I wasn't trying." Ekei continued his low laughter as he came to stand shoulder to shoulder with Etsushi. "I want to tell you that the propaganda campaign shall begin within a few days."

Nodding in acknowledgement Etsushi wondered why Ekei was telling him this. He wasn't his superior, in theory all Council members were equal and only had to report to the group unless otherwise directed.

After a moment of silence Ekei spoke again "you know it was on a night like this that I had my first encounter with a ninja. I was a young novice and I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. On my way back to the dorm my throat was slashed from behind." He lifted up the bottom of his hood to reveal a jagged scar across his throat. "It was a miracle that I survive, although I would never be able to talk in a normal tone again. Many others that night were not as fortunate. That night is partly why I urged my order to join with the Tenzo in this Council business, but why did you chose to join up with them?"

Etsushi grimaced if Ekei believed he would share his past so easily, he had overestimated the man. "My past is my own. I have no wish to discuss it. I doubt you're only reason for coming up here was to exchange life stories."

"True but I can tell you carry a heavy burden, it is in your eyes and the fact you choose not to have a surname. It would be easier if you shared your burden with another if not me then somebody else."

"Get to your point."

"All right, I wanted to discuss this with you before bringing it up at the next meeting. In a few weeks those magnificent ships of yours will be used to carry other members of my order here. I was thinking we could send some cannons and muskets with the ships so they could practice on their way here. If they became proficient enough with the cannons perhaps we could use them to bombard Kirigakure on the day we declare open warfare on the hidden villages."

"Absolutely not" Etsushi's tone was sharper than he intended, but he needed to kill this idea now. "If we attack one of the five great hidden villages at the beginning they may unite against us. Besides what would you do when they counter attack? All of the tactics I've come up with are for land use only."

Ekei raised his voice to the equivalent of a shout for him "the five great ninja villages are incapable of joining together there's too much distrust between them. Besides I'm not talking about the complete destruction of the Mist just enough to hurt them. It will be good for morale and show our power which will bring even more support to us."

"We cannot take the risk of loosing any cannons and if they sink one ship that's what will happen. If you bring this plan up during a Council meeting I will shoot it down there as well." Etsushi wasn't much of a politician, but he knew that he would have to give some concession to Ekei to allow him to save some face.

In a calmer voice he continued, "You have a good idea about practicing while on the way here. It will be a long journey and it would be a waste of time if they could not practice. Goodnight Ekei" and with that Etsushi left behind an irritated monk.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's notes

There are two quotes used in this chapter, the first is "which is better to have one hundred average spears or one good sword?" The quote can be found in many books about the samurai it is a question a master would pose to a student. The second one is "quantity has a quality all its own" from Joseph Stalin.

Definition for words may not know,

Naraka- Buddhism's equivalent to hell or purgatory depending on the translation, if you are reborn here you have to work off bad karma through pain and suffering, it is not permanent.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Naruto still didn't understand why this mission had been put together in such a hurry or why they were in such a rush. However, since Sasuke wasn't complaining that meant he couldn't either. The first few days hadn't been that bad, but now he was tired which was rare for him. Kakashi had only allowed brief breaks and sleep could only be grabbed in fifteen to twenty minute snatches. He added not getting enough sleep to his growing list of why this mission sucked. If Sakura had been traveling with them to Kemurigakure he wouldn't have minded so much, but she had stayed behind to start some training with granny Tsunade.

His mind wandered to another concern his plants he hoped that Konohamaru was still remembering to water them. Thinking of Konohamaru he remembered the promise he had made to Iruka sensei, the thought of the former number one prankster telling someone to pay more attention in class brought a smile to his face. Before his Rasengan training he had thought that most of the stuff Iruka sensei had taught was useless but now he realize that he should have paid more attention. He really didn't want Konohamaru repeating all of his mistakes. He felt a little bad about not dealing with that before he left but there hadn't been time.

One positive thing about Kakashi insane pace was the lack of time it gave Naruto to think. It wasn't so much the mission itself that was bothering him but what had been done to this kid. It was hard for Naruto not to draw comparisons between this kid and Gaara. From the moment of their birth they had both been intended to be used as weapons. The kid had probably been treated better than Gaara but on some instinctual level Naruto knew what had been done to them was wrong. Before they were even born, people only viewed them as tools. Ninjas were more than tools he still wanted to prove that to Haku, that there had been another way.

He wondered if others would think it was strange for still feeling a connection to a boy long dead. He couldn't help it though he wanted to understand him. Perhaps it was because he couldn't deny that there had been some truth in what he had said or perhaps he had just seen a little bit of himself in those sad eyes.

Lost in his thoughts of that day, he nearly bunped into Sasuke as he came to a sudden stop. Naruto slipped on the wet grass as he tried to avoid running into Sasuke. Glaring up at Sasuke he was about to shout an insult at him when Kakashi spoke up.

"Do you see that village up ahead?"

Squinting into the distance Naruto was barely able to make out a small dot on the horizon that might be a town. "Is that Kemurigakure?"

"No, but it's only about a thirty minute walk from there and they probably have someone stationed in that village to spot customers who are on their way to Kemurigakure. So, this is our last chance to get some rest before we arrive there."

"Why can't we just rest when we get their" Naruto asked?

"I want to spend as little time as possible in Kemurigakure. If the initial report is right, I don't want to give them time to try anything drastic." Recognizing the curious looks his students were giving him, he tried to divert their attention. "Now pay close attention I'm going to teach you a quick jutsu. It's only D ranked but it's one of the most important ones you'll ever learn."

Seeing he had successfully distracted both of his students he continued. "There are only two hand signs but the more chakra you put into it, the longer its effects will last. To perform this jutsu you first must find a comfortable spot." He laid down on the grass and quickly made the seals. "Ninja Art instant sleep."

For a moment both Naruto and Sasuke stared at their sensei in shock. Naruto was the first to speak up "that was" he trailed off lost for words.

"Dumber than you're jutsu," Sasuke added.

"Hay, my Sexy Transformation Technique is a work of genius! You just can't recognize that."

"Whatever, idiot" Sasuke said as he walked away.

"Sasuke" Naruto said softly before he was too far away "this kid we are going to get, if he is a lost Uchiha then can you can start rebuilding your clan?"

"This whole mission is a waste of time. Some senile old man thinks he saw an eight year old kid who somehow can activate the Sharingan, it's a joke."

"What if it is true?"

Sasuke took so long to answer that Naruto thought, he had walked away. "If it was true, then I would be the clan head. I would be responsible for overseeing his training and for his care. If a child who is in a clan is orphaned that child then becomes the responsibility of the head."

Naruto watched as Sasuke had walked away from him. He really hadn't liked how Sasuke had said that last part. It had seemed as if he was reading from a textbook. Also, what about this kid's mother, she was probably still around. Kakashi had not explained to him how they were going to convince this kid to move to Konoha. He shrugged it off, it wasn't really his responsibility but as he drifted off to sleep he still felt uneasy.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….………

KatsuroDate made his way down several flights of stairs that lead to the Raikage's office. The elaborate security precautions the Raikage took in peacetime seemed unnecessary to Katsuro. Then again he had never shared in his villages overall paranoia. Ironically, there had been only one successful assassination of a Raikage and that had been an inside job. Of course, when considering that one of the assassins had been appointed to be the next Raikage perhaps he had a reason to be concerned.

Still, he had expected a summons to discuss his recent report sooner than it had come. Katsuro knew his recommendation to share the intelligence with other villages would not go over easily but he knew that his reputation carry considerable weight among some of his superiors. He hated relying on his reputation particularly considering he wasn't proud of how he became famous. For a moment the scar on his cheek felt fresh. Raising his hand to his cheek, he half expected to feel the warm slick sensation of fresh blood. Feeling the old familiar scar tissue his mind snapped back to the present.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs he paused in front of a nondescript door. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts he opened the door to a pitch black room, sighing he entered the room knowing he would have to play along.

While closing the door he shouted into the darkness. "I don't have time for this today sensei. I have been summoned to meet with the Raikage."

"Fighting skills must be practiced or they are lost. As the personal assistant to our honorable Raikage I must stay at peak efficiency."

The voice had come from Katsuro's right but that was meaningless, it was easy enough to throw ones voice. Sweeping his leg behind him to clear his path for a retreat he slid his back against the wall. Drawing a kunai with one hand and a scroll from his vest, he jumped into the air and opened the scroll releasing dozens of kunai. The sound of kunai embedding themselves in wood and bouncing off the stone filled the room. He was sure he hadn't hit his sensei with that simple move. He was equally certain that his sensei wouldn't think he would stay in the same spot, a moment later he was proven right.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missile" for a second a bright flame lit the room casting eerie shadows on the wall and revealing both combatants. Katsuro threw the kunai he still held in his hand at where he thought his targets stomach would be; after all he didn't want to kill his opponent. Rolling across the floor he made a critical misjudgment. His foot accidentally banged up against the desk making a small noise.

"Earth release: Stone Soldier" Katsuro knew more from experience then the ability to actually see anything, that a perfect replica of a samurai from the waist up was coming at him sword raised in preparation of cutting him in half. He rolled out of the way just in time to hear the sound of the Stone soldier crashing into the desk behind him. Hearing the rapid footsteps of his opponent, he felt around the ground for one of his fallen kunai. Finding one he thrust it upward intending to plant it between his opponents third and fourth ribs and into his heart. A second before making contact he stopped as he felt the cold point of a Shuriken come to rest on his carotid artery.

"Looks like you're dead. It seems teaching has made you slow." The voice said from above him.

Pushing his kunai against the others skin Katsuro said finding it hard to keep the amusement out of his voice. "Today sensei we would have joined each other in death."

As the lights came on Katsuro took a moment to observe the damage their little spar had caused. Kunai littered the floor where they hadn't embedded themselves in the stone walls or sparse furnishings. There was a soot stain from where the fire jutsu was used and the desk only further use would be for kindling.

Katsuro began "so, why have you stopped me from meeting with the Raikage sensei? I believe this could be considered criminal if it got back to the right people."

"Actually, the Raikage asked me to stop you before your meeting." He glanced around the room as if there could be an enemy spy here seventy feet below the surface of Kumogakure. "What I'm about to tell you does not leave this room. The Raikage has only a maximum of seven years left to live but more likely less."

While this news was unsettling Katsuro couldn't understand why he would be told about it. "That's sad to hear he is a good man, but why are you telling me this?"

"The Raikage would like for you to be his successor."

Katsuro didn't even bother to contain his laughter. "You can't be serious. I'm too young, to inexperience, I don't have large chakra reserves and most of all I don't want the job. Why don't you go for it you have all three of those and you're already his assistant."

It took a supreme effort on Katsuro's part not to wince under the glare of his old sensei. Out of all the people in the village his sensei should know why he wouldn't want such responsibility. He had only taken the responsibility of a genin team because of the low chance of real combat and the sheer amount of time such duty would entail. Of course that hope had been shot to hell. One of his students had been almost a certified genius and if the other two could ever put their childish behavior behind them they would be chunin in no time.

"Look around you Katsuro all the other possible candidates are all war hawks. Half of them would restart the war with Konoha within five days of being chosen. I know you don't want this but I believe you could do it and so does the Raikage."

"Great I have a usurper and a traitor backing me up." Katsuro knew he had stepped over the line. That was why he didn't resist as he was slammed against the wall.

As his sensei's hand tightened on his throat he leaned in and said, "Remember we ninjas are mere tools but we choose our masters. The Tsuchikage lost his right to command me when he sacrificed my first genin team. An act for which not even the suffering he will endure in the worst Naraka will completely wash away."

As suddenly as his anger came it disappeared. Releasing Katsuro he said, "Go on you have a meeting to get to, just think about it your village needs you. Katsuro muttered an apology and went to the door that led to the Raikage's office. "Katsuro" his sensei called out one more time before he left "about your sister I know I've said it before but it's not your fault you didn't have a choice in the matter."

Pausing at the door Katsuro said back "no matter how many times you say that, it still was fratricide." He briefly wondered what the chances were that both a student and teacher would lose someone important to them by the scheming of others. Of course that was where the similarities between the two of them ended. His sensei had the Tsuchikage to concentrate his anger on while Katsuro had no one but himself. Whoever, his sister had intended to hand over the defense plans for Kumogakure to she took it with her to her grave. It didn't help that the village held him up as a living example of village above family. The fact he hadn't known who he was hunting down until the end always did get lost in the retellings.

Pushing away the bad memories and the dark emotions threatening to engulf him, he concentrated on the task at hand. Entering the Raikage's office he tried to appear nonchalance. "Sir, you wish to talk to me about my report."

The man behind the desk rose he was only fifty-five years old but appeared much older. The little hair he had was gray, he seemed to lean constantly to his right and he was missing two fingers. It was clear the previous Raikage had not gone down without a fight; it was also clear why he never made public appearances. This wasn't the first time Katsuro had ever seen him but knowing his death was now imminent he felt he should pay closer attention to his condition.

"Not so formal Katsuro sit," he said gesturing to a chair. Retrieving a large roll of paper from the shelf behind he asked "tell me, what you think civilians think about us, not the ones that live in our village but the ones outside?"

Katsuro was caught off guard by the question; he had thought they were going to discuss the musket situation. Confused he said, "They seem to respect us." Where was the old man going with this?

The old man seemed to be amused by the answer. "Well that's one way of looking at it but do you think they understand our work? Why we do it?"

"They hire us"

This time the old man laughed "yes they hire us to do their dirty work for them."

Katsuro nodded trying to follow the rapid shift in conversation.

"Have you read the report on Zabuza demise? Do you believe that Gato could do to us what he did to the land of Waves? Of course not we would have fought his people at the first opportunity. That's not what happened in Wave at least not till the end.

"We have taken away much suffering from the average person. To them war is an abstract concept. The last real one happened fifty years ago and it was fortunately short. The ninja wars in between then and now went unnoticed by the population at large. Their crops weren't burned and towns weren't raised to the ground. We've taken on a great burden for them and they don't even remember they carried it. I'm not complaining you see if the average civilian didn't think this way we wouldn't have as many C and D ranked missions, they may not pay much by themselves but they help keep our village afloat."

He unrolled the piece of paper he had been holding until now. It turned out to be a poster showing a drawing of a town at twilight with bodies scattered around the village. The writing was in red but before he could read it, the Raikage started speaking again.

"Sometimes we deal with unsavory people, outright criminals and sometimes a mission can go badly. Most people are blissfully ignorant of these facts." Gesturing to the paper he continued. "Posters like these have been popping up in several countries simultaneously. This was sent to us by the Mizukage, the poster talks about a village some Hunter-nin wiped out in their search for a spy. You would think Mist would have learned their lesson about collateral damage."

"You think the musket and these posters are linked somehow?"

"Yes, someone out there just declared war on us. They're trying to attack us economically. By bringing some of our darker jobs to light they hope to decrease our mission and our treasury. I have chosen to take your recommendation and sent copies of your report to our allies. Considering the situation I've also taken the unprecedented step of appointing an ambassador to a non-allied village. Katsuro Date you're going to Konoha.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Etsushi rode through the castle, despite the early hour the castle was already bustling with activity. He glanced at a training field where one of the monks was giving a lecture on how to counter some ninja tactics in close quarters. He found it interesting that the style of fighting he had developed and the monks were so very different. He supposes this was because his style had been developed to fight any ninja, while the monk's style had been specialized to counter the Mist ninjas.

Normally, Etsushi would be giving the morning lecture but today he had other business to deal with. There was a new prototype the engineers wanted him to see. They claimed it was ten times better than a musket. He was a bit annoyed that the engineers had spent some of their time developing a new weapon and not just improve on the ones they already had. They had passed the point at which they could abandon their plan. To put it simply it was crunch time.

He had allowed the engineers a free hand to improve on the original designs where they could, but he had not really wanted them to waste their resources designing a new weapon. Remembering the old question his father used to pose to him, "which is better to have one-hundred average spears then one good sword?" The answer is simple enough, "quantity has a quality all its own." Besides there wasn't enough time to develop new tactics to integrate new weapons.

So, Etsushi mood had been fouled to start the day. When he had learned that the Lord Nagoya Tenzo who was supposed to accompany him, had chosen to spend the previous night in the Yoshiwara quarter he was thoroughly annoyed. As he traveled to the still darkened streets of the capital he took a little solace in the fact the city had chosen to keep the old name for the district rather than the new and more vulgar name. The red light district just sounded like a place that should be shut down.

He wished his young Lord would not indulge in his one vice so much. Other than this one flaw he was shaping up to be a good successor to his father. He had trained himself into a well honed blade. His fighting skills could only be matched by Etsushi himself. He was also respected by his retainers and in turn he respected them. It was important for there to be mutual respect among all, Etsushi had learned that the hard way. The samurai code demanded absolute loyalty to one's Lord, but when one's Lord was unworthy of their loyalty it was meaningless.

Arriving at the most exclusive geisha house in the Yoshiwara quarter Etsushi asked for Nagoya to be awoken and brought to him. This wasn't the first time he had to retrieve his young master after a late-night of partying; he just wished he had a better sense of timing.

Nagoya had enough sense to look chagrined as he came out. "Sorry for dragging you out here but I had some diplomatic relations to keep up." He grinned making him look half his age.

"Your timing could have been better." Etsushi was tempted to give him a lecture about responsibility but it wasn't his place. He was his father's chief retainer, not his sons' babysitter.

"Well Ekei mention to me that there wouldn't be time for distractions later on, so the two of us decided to celebrate now. One last hurrah before the war, you know. I tell you he doesn't take his vows too seriously."

Etsushi had not been paying too much attention until he heard the name Ekei. He had a sudden suspicion he didn't like. "Tell me did you two discuss anything about the Village Hidden in the Mist?"

Nagoya looked a bit surprise. "As a matter of fact we did. He is very concerned about it. Since they will be sending most of their fighting force here, their homeland will be left largely unprotected. The two of us came up with a plan to launch a raid on the Mist. You know hurt them enough so that they couldn't capitalize on the situation. We're going to turn our fishing ships into warships. We were going to present it at the next meeting." Nagoya seemed to beam with pride that he had come up with a plan that Etsushi hadn't helped him with.

So, Ekei hadn't given up on his little plan and worse he now had Nagoya backing him up, this wasn't good. He had to get Nagoya to withdraw his support for this plan, but he couldn't handle it the same way as before. "Do you remember our overall strategy?"

"Of course" Nagoya sounded offended. "First we launch a propaganda campaign in hopes of weakening them financially. In the best case scenario they may even turn on each other, such as Sand recently did with Leaf. Then we isolate them and destroy the Hidden Villages one at a time."

"Correct, we want to draw them into large-scale battles, where their fighting style is the weakest. They also lose the element of surprise which is one of their strong points. The plan you are suggesting is going against that strategy. Remember, we need to draw out their strongest ninja's first and eliminate them. Those ships would be a sitting duck for a counterattack."

They rode in silence for awhile as Nagoya considered what he had been told. "I still believe Ekei's and my plan is good. A successful raid on one of the five great nations would be a huge boost to morale."

"If successful? When the plan fails all it would have accomplished would be the destruction of valuable cannons. Remember you have never actually fought against a ninja and until you do you will not fully understand what I've taught you."

"I am perfectly capable of coming up with my own strategy and remember our allies have been fighting the ninjas long before you were even born! They believe in this strategy and so do I."

Etsushi knew he had lost this fight it was futile to argue with Nagoya when he believed he was right. He would have to go over his head and directly to his father to kill this plan now. Damn that Ekei, the scheming little monk was going to pay for this. The two rode in uncomfortable silence for the next hour until they arrived at their destination.

It was a small clearing far away from prying eyes. Two men were already standing in the middle waiting for them. As they dismounted the two men approached. One was carrying what looked like an oversized musket with them, but the bore was as big as a man's fist. Etsushi presumed it was the new weapon but it didn't look anything special. He recognized the other man as one of the civilians who attended the Council's meetings, but he could never remember their names.

"The man started to speak in a nervous voice. "I am honored that two such distinguished men as you're selves came all this way to see and example of my latest idea. The idea came to me several weeks ago when you asked if we could affix a knife or some other type of weapon to the end of the musket for cases where you couldn't draw your swords quickly."

"Get on with it."

"Of course, go ahead" he said to his companion. "As you can see it looks much like a musket unfortunately it takes longer to make, but once you see what it can do at close range you'll want a few of these." With that he plugged his ears and closed his eyes. The two samurai looked on with various levels of interest.

The explosion was louder than either of them had expected but the result was amazing. The melon that had been the target was completely gone and so was most of the pedestal it had been on. The instruction did not end there though there was a path of devastation about ten feet in diameter behind the target. Etsushi quickly grasp what had been done. Instead of firing just one ball like the muskets did this arm cannon thing, or whatever it was going to be called fired hundreds of smaller ones. It was clearly useless if fired at a target at any distance but it would certainly give the musket men time to draw their swords.

Etsushi looked over at Nagoya who was smiling back at him. "I think this weapon has some potential."


	10. Chapter 10

Authors note: The reference to "poisoning the well" comes from medieval Europe when an army was retreating they would literally poison the wells to deny the use of them to the advancing army. A more recent example would be Stalin's scorch earth policy during World War II.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

As Kakashi sat down across from the leader of Kemurigakure, he realized that he was nervous which was unusual for him. If you are nervous you are using energy that could be otherwise use to solve the problem. That had been one of the lessons his sensei had taught him. He had always tried to follow that advice, remaining calm in the heat of battle and trying to analyze the situation and figure out a plan.

Unfortunately, this was going to be a battle of words something he was unsuited for. He was a blunt person by nature. To negate that flaw he had rehearsed the conversation he was going to have with the leader of Kemurigakure hundreds of times in his head.

In an ideal world he would not be on this mission. There were several other jonin that would have been far better suited for the job. Unfortunately, Tsunade was in a power struggle with Konoha's advisory council and that was why this mission had been put together in such a hurry. She was well within her authority not to inform the advisory council after all they were advisers nothing more.

The thing was that was not how the Third had done things. The Third Hokage had made them an integral part of the decision-making process particularly towards the end. The Advisory Council became accustomed to it, whereas Tsunade couldn't really care less what they thought. Of course, there was another reason for not informing the Advisory Council. Some on the Advisory Council would insist that Kemurigakure should be destroyed just in case.

Konoha had never wiped out another hidden village before and the Fifth Hokage didn't seem inclined to break that tradition. Of course, not all the members of Advisory Council would agree with that. If they believed her actions were putting the village at risk they may try to overrule her authority and that wouldn't be good. It was small instances like that which led to the civil war within the Mist. He would like to believe that Konoha was stronger then that, but he was equally sure that's how they felt in the Mist before their war.

So, the fate of Kemurigakure lay with the outcome of this mission. The thing he hated about this mission was not only the fact he had no diplomatic experience but that Naruto was with him. It wasn't that he didn't believe in Naruto's ninja abilities, after all he had nominated him for the chunin exam and he believed that he could easily make Jonin within ten years. The reason he didn't want him on this mission was the same reason he had failed the final exam. His emotions controlled him.

A ninja did not have to be emotionless, but they could not be controlled by them either. Naruto had very strong beliefs on how people should be treated and he wasn't shy about expressing them. The last thing this mission needed was Naruto shouting at the village head about how wrong it was for someone to be made into a living weapon.

"Don't tell me that Konohagakure has so many ninjas, that they can spare one high-level Jonin and two Genin to deliver a message to our small village." The man that had spoken was Lord Yagi leader of the Village Hidden in Smoke. For some reason Kakashi had expected more of a presence from a man who was turning around an entire village. He had to consciously remind himself that this man was much more than he appeared.

Kakashi introduced himself and both of his students. When the name Uchiha was mentioned he didn't seem to be surprised. Considering this information he selected one of his arguments. Sitting down he began, "Konoha has recently discovered information that we believe your village should be made aware of." He could see that he now had the man's full attention; hopefully he would think that this was another message about the musket problem. "It seems that a ninja from our village and one from yours had a relationship several years ago, from which a child was born unknown to the father." There it was a subtle tell. Lord Yagi had a slight change in his breathing and if it hadn't been for Kakashi years in the ANBU he wouldn't have noticed.

"Normally this wouldn't be something Konoha would concern itself with after all, these things happen. Unfortunately, because of whom his father was this child is putting your entire village in danger."

Lord Yagi leaned backwards presumably to hide any unconscious movements and said, "I presume you have evidence to back up everything you're saying."

"We believe this boy's father was an Uchiha, as you know all but one of them was killed by one of their own. What is not widely known is why he chose to kill off his entire family. You see he became obsessed with power and is of the firm belief that only another Sharingan user could kill him. The only reason that one of them survived was because he had chosen to stay out late that night to train. Since then he has made an attempt on the survivor's life when he was outside of our village.

When he hears that you have a Sharingan user of your own he will most likely attack your village. It is a distinct possibility that he could wipe out your entire village. You must understand, this is not a slight against your village but we know that you have a majority of your force out on missions most of the time. So, we believe that for the safety of your village and of this boy he should accompany us back to Konoha."

Kakashi glanced over at Sasuke as he talked, grateful for his foresight to notify him how he was going to use Itachi beforehand. Sasuke had been clearly unhappy about it but there hadn't been too many other options. Kakashi was not sure if the fact that not everything he had said was true had made the situation better or worse for him to hear.

On the outside Lord Yagi looked calm and collected. Kakashi respect for the man went up several notches. It could not be easy to watch years of work go up in flames in front of you and keep a mask of calm.

"I presume that you have proof that this hypothetical boy could possibly be descended from an Uchiha." It surprised Kakashi that Lord Yagi voice held little anger or sadness in his tone as he had expected.

Clearly, Lord Yagi was merely stalling for time. But why, both of them knew how this was going to end it was only the details that were left. He reached into an inner pocket of his vest pulled out a sketch of the boys face and it clearly showed one tomoe in each of his eyes.

"The last messenger worked for our military police for most of his career. Our police force mostly consisted of the Uchiha clan before they were massacred. It goes without saying that he could easily recognize the Sharingan, even at a distance after all most of the Uchiha eventually awoke their bloodline, it was very useful for their work."

"Aki tell Kado to come to my office. I think he is having a class by the lake today and then get back to your post."

At first Kakashi didn't know who he was talking to until he heard a voice from behind him acknowledge the order. It was the girl that was waiting for customers in the last village. She had been the one to guide them here and apparently she hadn't left. The girl was only fifteen or sixteen years old, he should have been able to sense her standing in the doorway even if he had been distracted. It was hard to believe that the same village that had produced the Moya brothers could also produce someone that could hide from his senses at such a young age. It looks like intelligence has dropped the ball again he thought.

"Now that were alone, let's be blunt with each other. I gambled and I lost, I accept that but you must understand the entire village has put a lot of work into that boy and I believe we should be compensated for that. After all he will be leaving the only home he's ever known and with a few simple words I can make it look like an opportunity to him or a tragedy." A weak smile crossed Lord Yagi face as he said, "You will refer to us five A ranked and ten B ranked missions of our choosing over the next two years."

So this is why he had been stalling for time earlier, he was trying to figure out how to use this situation. He had correctly assumed that Konoha would want this boy to become a ninja instead of just another civilian. After all the Uchiha clan would be rebuilt faster that way and that was something most in Konoha wanted to see.

In exchange for not poisoning the well, he wanted some missions in return. Kakashi could already tell what type Lord Yagi would choose, they would be like team seven's mission to Wave. The missions would be public and important to more than just a few people the type that would drum up more business for a small hidden village that most people outside of other ninjas probably never heard of.

The thing Lord Yagi didn't know was Konoha was overwhelmed with missions right now and would be happy to give up a few. Trading missions for a favor, wasn't exactly common among hidden villages but it wasn't unheard of either it would be a good way to hide their current weakness. Overall it would be a good trade for both sides and he was about to agree to his terms when Naruto chose that moment to explode in righteous indignation.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Naruto's first impression of Kemurigakure was that it was small but nice. There were districts within Konoha that were larger then this entire village. The person that had guided them here had seemed polite and the few people they had passed had nodded and smiled at them. Their guide had given a little biography on everyone they had passed. It seemed that everyone knew everyone else in this village at least in passing. It was completely different than in Konoha, Naruto didn't even know the name of everyone who lived on his floor let alone anything about them.

He was beginning to hope Sasuke was right and this was all some misunderstanding. It seemed wrong to take somebody away from this little village. After all just because somebody had the Sharingan didn't mean they were going to be a great ninja.

So he had hoped that the leader of this village would have a simple explanation for everything. He would've preferred that this whole mission had been a waste of time but almost as soon as the meeting had begun those hopes had been dashed. For a few moments he had hated this mission and himself for being a part of it. Right then he felt worse about himself than the time when he was younger and a mother had told her son not to play with that boy. He had always thought that would be the worst he ever felt about himself in his life. He could not understand why such hatred could be directed at him for no reason he knew. Right now Naruto discovered that self-loathing was worse than anything another person could inflict on someone.

As he half listened he heard this kid discussed as if he was a piece of merchandise. At that moment all the hatred and self-loathing he felt crystallized on one person. Right now he didn't care that Kakashi sensei had told him to say nothing during the meeting this guy had it coming to him. Before he even knew what he was going to say, he was on his feet and the folding chair he had been sitting on clattered to the ground behind them.

"You call yourself a leader." The small part of Naruto's mind that was still working hardly recognized his own voice it was so filled with hatred.

"Naruto sit down!" Called Kakashi's voice it sounded as if it was coming from a great distance to Naruto.

"Let the boy speak." Lord Yagi seemed rather calm which only infuriated Naruto even more.

"If anybody ever comes to Konoha when I am Hokage, and says I have to give up one of the people I've sworn to protect I'm not going to give in so damn easily and I'm certainly not going to treat them as if they're mere merchandise to be traded for the right price. You are supposed to protect these people with your life, not toss them aside when they're no longer of any use to you."

The man sat calmly listening to what Naruto was shouting at him. After a minute of silence he said, "Are you done?" He calmly leaned forward in his chair and rested his head in his hands. "I hope you become Hokage one day. When you have watched your village slowly weakened year after year and you know that it is only a matter of time before your village collapses around you. When you have to make a decision in a single moment that you know will affect your entire village, then judge my actions."

Both of them stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Naruto felt his anger drained from him. He suddenly felt very tired and all he could think was that the man had sounded so sad. Naruto had no idea how much time passed before a soft knock was heard at the door. That sound seemed to break the trance that everyone had fallen into.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Yes," Kakashi's voice seemed unusually quiet.

"The boy's name is Kado. He has been raised as an orphaned believing his mother died shortly after giving birth to him. As I'm sure you suspect his mother isn't actually dead. She was only seventeen when I gave her the mission, despite what some people may think I am not a complete monster. I allowed her to walk away from the child as soon as he was born.

"To keep up the charade we even had a grave built for her, he visits it often. When he started asking about his father the Uchiha massacre had already happened. We simply told him that they all had been killed by one of their own, it was mostly true." Sighing he continued, "He desperately wants a family one that is related to him by blood give him that and he will be completely loyal to Konoha."

Naruto felt a bit of his anger returning but it was only a shadow of what he felt earlier. Instead he looked over at Sasuke who hadn't said anything during the entire meeting. Naruto thought he should be happy or at least surprised. This would be a step in rebuilding his clan after all and the opportunity had landed right in his lap. It would be like granny Tsunade saying he was becoming Hokage tomorrow. Naruto wondered if he would ever understand his friend.

There was another louder knock at the door Lord Yagi raised his voice so it could be heard through the thick oak door "come in Kado."

The little kid that opened the door could almost have passed for a Sasuke clone when he was that age of course Naruto had never seen Sasuke with a broken nose. At least that's what it looked like to Naruto's untrained eye, his nose seemed a little swollen and the bruises under his eyes that accompanied such an injury made him look like he hadn't slept for a week. The only other major difference between the two of them seemed to be their choice in hairstyles.

After the initial surprise of seeing a miniature doppelganger of the kid who always thought he was too good to talk to anyone in class, Naruto realized the resemblance wasn't as close as he thought it was at first. His hair wasn't as dark as Sasuke's was, his eyes were bright green and the look of fear on his face was one that probably never across Sasuke's. The last thing he noticed was that he was soaking wet a fact he had failed to realize at first because of the dark clothes he was wearing.

The kid suddenly bowed low and said in a nasal voice caused by has broken nose said, "I'm sorry Lord Yagi for knocking so loud and disturbing your meeting but Aki said you wanted to see me right away and I didn't want you to think that I wasn't obeying your summons and being disrespectful but if I had known you were in a meeting I wouldn't have disturbed you and I'm really sorry."

"Relax Kado, you're not in trouble this time and why are you all wet?" As Lord Yagi said this he stood up from behind his desk and walked over to the kid to kneel down so he could be at eye level with him. Naruto remembered when Iruka had done the same thing for Konohamaru when he had talked to him at his grandfather's funeral. Naruto wondered if this was the real Lord Yagi or was he just fulfilling his part of the deal.

Kado relaxed visibly when he learned he wasn't in trouble. He suddenly became very interested in the floor and said quietly, "Sensei was lecturing the younger kids about how some jutsu are affected by the environment around you. Me and Hoshiko were showing them an example and she pushed me off the dock when sensei wasn't looking."

Lord Yagi sighed and ruffled Kado's hair affectionately. "You shouldn't let her push you around like that but never mind. I want to introduce you to someone he has come all the way from Konoha to meet you. As it turns out somebody survive the horrible massacre that killed your father." He nodded in the direction of Sasuke and said, "This is your cousin Sasuke and he wants to show you how to use your special gift to its full potential."

The look on the kid's face was one of complete joy and for a second he just stared at Sasuke in amazement. Then he surprised everyone by running over to Sasuke and jumping into his lap and wrapped is arms around his neck. Naruto broke out laughing at the look on Sasuke's face he never thought he would see Sasuke in shock. His laugh died as he realized what this kid had just been promised, Naruto thought of Sasuke as a friend most of the time but he couldn't see him talking to a kid let alone teaching him anything. This kid was really going to be disappointed in him.


	11. Chapter 11

All right, next stop Konoha and hopefully a better mission Naruto thought to himself. So far this mission was one of the worst he had ever been on, ranking right up there with finding that damn cat. A great ninja like him being reduced to the status of a pack mule. It was so humiliating being used to help a little kid move, no wonder Kakashi told them to pack light.

It didn't help his mood that they were already running late, they were supposed to have left Kemurigakure yesterday, but they had been obligated to stay for an impromptu going away party for Kado. It had not been fun.

This village's leader may be a jerk but a lot of people treated Kado as an adopted son. There had been a few tearful goodbyes and many gifts. Naruto hadn't had so many angry glares directed at him since he had done his little prank with the Hokage monument. This time though he would have preferred to melt into the ground than bask in the unwanted attention.

To add to their delay in leaving, Kado had asked if he could say goodbye to his mother. Watching him standing over an empty grave morning someone who never existed had been difficult to watch. It wasn't like he had the heart to tell him the truth though. Inevitably he had thought about his own mother, someone he hadn't thought about since he had moved out of the orphanage.

Had she been like Kado's and simply hadn't wanted anything to do with him or was it because of the damn Fox. It was probably better to believe as Kado did that she had simply died. Of course, that put his father in the same position. Now he remembered why he stopped playing the guessing game about his parents, there was never a good outcome. Fed up with these depressing thoughts he ran ahead of the group, trying to get himself excited about training and new missions.

"Kado, Kado!" The high-pitched shout from a young child came from behind them. Turning Naruto saw two girls coming towards them one looked to be about seven while the other one was probably nine. The small one had been the one shouting but as the group turned around she yelped and hid behind the tallest girl. The girl who was being used as a shield rolled her eyes. Pulling the girl out from behind her, she said "listen she wanted to give Kado a gift last night but with all the commotion" trailing off, "Kado take the damn present." She said while pushing the little girl foreword.

The little girl's behavior, the way she was holding out her present and her downcast look oddly reminded him of Hinata for some reason. He guessed some girls were just weird like that, of course he thought that was better than being a bit scary looking like the other one.

Tentatively holding out a small wrapped package for Kado to accept, she said hesitantly "I picked it out but Hoshiko help me pay for it. I just wanted something to say thanks for all the times you've help me out."

"Umm thanks, so this is from both of you?"

"Don't flatter yourself, I lent her the money. Come on we are going to be late getting back to class." The older girl grabbed the younger one by the wrist and started pulling her back to the village. She suddenly stopped, turned around, walked back to where Kado was still standing and quickly punched an unprepared Kado in the stomach. "That's my gift to you, you little thief."

"Hey! What did you do that for?" Naruto wasn't a stranger to being picked on but the suddenness had caught him off guard. He glared at the retreating girls the older pulling the younger along, who was casting a concerned look over her shoulder until they went through the gates that led to Kemurigakure.

"That was Hoshiko" Kado wheezed out still bent over in pain. "She's probably the only person I am not going to miss." As he said that he was looking over at Kemurigakure with tears in his eyes either from his emotions or pain Naruto couldn't be sure.

It was nothing more then a cluster of buildings surrounded by a defensive wall on three sides, adjacent to a lake. Still, it was his only home he'd ever known, it would be like him being told he couldn't return to Konoha Naruto thought. Trying to head off the tears he knew were coming from the kid, he asked the first question that came to mind. "What did they, I mean she get you?"

He slowly unwrapped his gift and ignoring Naruto's question, ran over to where Sasuke was standing holding up his gift. "Hey look it's a wrist holster for kunai. See you press against this thing and a kunai falls right into your Huh it's a bit big for me so you can have it, if you want."

"No, come on we're wasting time"

"Ok" Kado said rather cheerfully.

As annoying as it was getting the brush-off from the kid, he could sympathize with him, he remembered trying bribery to get people's attention when he was younger, and it never worked. He didn't know why Sasuke was acting like such a jerk to him but he was going to have a talk with Sasuke. It was the least he could do for Kado taking him away from his home and the people who cared about him.

"Hey look there's Hagi!" Kado shouted pointing to the little town team seven had napped outside of yesterday. "They have a great Korean barbecue it's almost lunch time so why don't we stop there."

Not even taking his eye off of his book Kakashi said, "why not."

"But we just started walking, if we stop now it's going to take us forever to get back to Konoha at this pace." Naruto's protest went ignored a bit dejected he followed the group into town.

Upon entering the town Naruto realized that the atmosphere had changed from yesterday. Growing up he had been use to people talking behind his back, he used to think it was because of his pranks until he learned about the Kyuubi, but that didn't explain why it was happening here. Yesterday they had passed through fairly unnoticed, being this close to a hidden village ninjas were probably a fairly common sight. The shop owners seemed to be the only ones to notice them yesterday.

Today everyone seemed to be staring at them but when Naruto would look back they'd suddenly averted their eyes. It was a bit too familiar to Naruto who remembered people treating him like this before. It had been creepy when he was a child but now it was just strange. Kakashi seemed to be the only other one to notice the change in the town. "Sensei what's up with them?"

Naruto watched as his sensei single eye roamed the surrounding buildings seemingly searching for something. Ordering them to stay put for a moment, he walked down a nearby alley and pausing at a poster. Removing his Hitai-ate and stared at it for a moment before turning back to them and saying. "It seems a family of three drowned on a nearby river when their boat capsized. This accident is being blamed on some ninjas were chasing another boat."

"What! Do they think we did that or something?" It really ticked Naruto off when he was blamed for things he had no control over.

"Umm was this family's name Sonoda?" Kado asked hesitantly.

"How did you know that?" Kakashi's tone was sharper than the situation warranted.

Crumbling under their combined gazes he started to ramble "Well you see sometimes our class would be told about a recent mission you no real experience and stuff. Well the Sonoda were famous counterfeiters and well they told us how they followed the money back to where it was being made and when they try to capture them they fled on this little boat you see and when they try to capture them in capsized and since it was night time they all kind of drowned but no one else got hurt." He paused here to take a breath "so I think it's all kind of a mistake."

* * *

Etsushi slowly followed one of his lord's servants across a veranda, which led to one of his many gardens. The squeak of the Nightingale floor beneath him brought back fond memories of his childhood. His former Lord had been fond of such floors believing they provided some measure of security. As a child he and his lord's children had made a game of trying to cross such floors without making any noise something only he had succeeded at. 

Technically, he was here to participate in a Moon viewing party which was supposed to be a relaxing evening of drinking sake and writing poetry. It was all mere subterfuge, for himself and his lord to hold a private meeting. Walking across a grass covered bridge he waited at a respectful distance until his Lord gestured for him to join him.

"Tell me Etsushi you are quite talented at designing gardens, what do you think of this one?"

Etsushi had never been to this particular garden before, so taking a few moments to observe his surroundings he found little to complement on. The full moon provided ample light to view the garden. It consisted of several large islands and numerous small ones, randomly placed but there was no meaning behind their positions and also an excessive use of large rocks. The plants which were clearly not native to this region provided an exotic quality to them. Reluctantly he said, "I can't say I particularly care for its layout."

The laughter from his Lord put him at ease. "A retainer that always speaks the truth is worth a hundred times his pay, Sake?"

Taking the offered choko he quickly downs the contents of the small saucer cup, as little as he cared for the drink it would have been rude not to accept.

"Are the men accepting the new weapons?" His Lord asked as he refilled his choko.

"They prefer their swords but they acknowledge their useful tools. The change in tactics is a bit harder for them to accept. I don't really blame them fighting in groups lessons the opportunity to distinguish themselves but their loyalty to you will carry them through. There is a more grave matter I wish to discuss with you."

"You mean the meeting between Ekei and my son. I can't do anything about it" shaking his head "politics" his Lord spat the word out in contempt. "Their concerns are legitimate, by moving most of their fighting force here to support us; they leave their homeland largely undefended. If I ordered my son to withdraw his support the monks could very well withdraw from the Council. With the loss of their intelligence network we would have to delay our plans and we're running out of time as it is."

Etsushi considered his Lord's words as he nursed his cup of sake. He never understood politics but he did understand what his Lord meant about time. Of the five great ninja villages' only one, Iwagakure could be considered at full strength. Kirigakure were still recovering from their civil war and the resulting misfortunate events, while Kumogakure had yet to fully recover from their disastrous war with Konoha. Leaving only Sunagakure and Konohagakure themselves, the former had been plagued by financial problems and had turned on their ally Konoha. While the exact damage done to Konoha was unclear, the monk's intelligence stated they had been significantly weakened.

The hidden villages may never be this weak again in his lifetime and if they had to piece together their own intelligence network that might give them enough time to regain their strength. Not to mention their now obvious producing and training with forbidden weapons. They can only expect to get away with that for another few more months at the most.

"My Lord isn't that all the more reason not to risk so many of our cannons on what is nothing more than a large-scale raid?"

His Lord took several drinks before answering, "As I've explained I have to let this plan go through. I will vote for it but only so I'll be in a position to limit the possible losses. I need you to do two things. First I know my son, he'll want to go on this raid, find something for him to do instead. The second thing is" he paused to take another drink "Ekei is trying to take control of the Council from me and it's not on the orders of the Abbot. It would be best for all, if he died on this raid of his."

His stomach knotted up and he almost dropped his choko in shock. Ekei may be causing a lot of trouble but he was still an ally and it was disgraceful to turn on them. That would be too much like a ninja as recent events showed. However, if Ekei was trying to obtain power on his own, than he really wasn't an ally. "How did you know about their meeting?"

While refilling both of their choko his Lord said, "Geishas are like servants, men often talk in front of them as if they're not there. This is especially true when they don't respect a woman's intelligence. It is particularly foolish when it comes to my son considering his sister has done more to help us so far then he has."

A rare smile crossed both of their faces at the mention of his daughter. Etsushi had only met her a few times but held her in high regard. Through an arranged marriage with the Land of Wind daimyo she had been able to cut Sunagakure's budget. While a bit underhanded for Etsushi's taste he could not deny its effectiveness. Even he had not thought that Sunagakure would turn on their ally but he supposed there was no honor among murderers. He silently toasted the lazy daimyo who had unknowingly handed them their first victory.

He had to admire Lord Tenzo dedication. He had been planning the downfall of the ninjas for decades if mostly only in theory. Compared to that Etsushi's few years of service on the Council was hardly worth a footnote in the history books.

"Thank you for your time, unless you would really like to hear some of my poetry I will take my leave."

"Etsushi you are a fine samurai and an excellent retainer but you are quite possibly the worst poet to ever live." His Lord's laughter took any bite out of the words as Etsushi bowed and departed.

Riding home he recognized that he had drunk too much to try to solve any of his problems tonight, always had been a light weight. Entering his small mansion within the castles walls he headed towards the room where he kept the small shrine to his parents. As he lit incense for his father he found it hard to believe that he had died over two decades ago. There had been so many times where he wished that he could have had just one more conversation with his father.

Etsushi had grown up in the Land of the Claw it was a wealthy nation compared to its neighbors but poor compared to others. This area of the continent almost seemed to be forgotten by time. Tradition ruled here, son's followed their father's trade and marriages were arranged. His father had been a samurai and that's what he was raised to be. Until his father retired from his position in the government Etsushi would spend his career hunting down bandits and the occasional minor border dispute which rarely involved more than a dozen men.

For generations his family had fatefully served the Land of the Claw's daimyo's and Etsushi intended to do the same. From an early age he was considered gifted. By the age of twenty he was considered a master of such things as Jujutsu, archery and swordsmanship. Unlike many others who only concentrated on the physical side of being a samurai he also practiced the gentler arts. He was an accomplished artist and had long since taken over the care of his father's garden. One of the things he did fail at was poetry he was completely inept at it.

However, between his father's clout and his own reputation, he was frequently approached for arranged marriages but between his looks and his personality most were scared off. That was until he meant Shina. She had been a year younger than him and not classically beautiful but they had shared much in common. As a result of her being raised mostly by her father and several older brothers she had picked up many of their interests. She was a fair artist but an excellent archer, Etsushi had finally met a woman he could connect to on multiple levels. The marriage was quickly arranged and was set to be held in the fall. Unfortunately, during the summer of his twenty-first year a small war broke out.

It was with the Land of the Sea, they had moved a large force of samurais onto a heavily wooded but deserted peninsula. Since lumber was a key export of their country this could not be tolerated. When Etsushi heard that negotiations had failed, he was overwhelmed with joy. A samurai had few chances to advance their career outside of war. Up until then his highest aspiration had been inheriting his father's job, a mid-level but trusted position in the government. If he could distinguish himself in this battle then he would be rewarded. There were already rumors of a permanent force being stationed on the peninsula to discourage any other encroachments. Perhaps he would be rewarded with command of that fort or even better a bodyguard to the daimyo. He had always just been content to serve his Lord before but Shina had changed all of that, he wanted her to have the best life she could.

There were a little over three hundred samurais under the daimyo's command, two hundred and fifty of these would be participating in the attack, and the rest would be left as guards. The plan was simple but solid. The enemy had chosen a good spot for their encampment, it was only easily approached from one direction but that didn't mean that it couldn't be approached from other directions. The men were divided into two groups. The larger force was to make a frontal attack on the position just after the sunset, this was a mere diversion. After most of the enemy forces were engaged with the frontal attack a smaller group was to attack from the rear. Caught between the two forces the enemy would either surrender or die.

His father was to be in the first group and he was to be in the second. He could still remember the smell of the small fishing boats they had commandeered and even worse the rocking of the smaller rowboats they had used to get close enough to the cliff so they could climb. It was only a ten foot cliff but it was sheer. He had been one of the men to volunteer to climb the cliff with a rope ladder on his back so the others could climb quicker.

After they all had climbed to the top they proceeded in silence to head to the forests in a loose group. Now that he knew his father was in danger, Etsushi found himself worrying more about him than any glory he could achieve. He would learn later that he was already under a powerful Genjutsu. They were slowly being separated into groups of five and six men and then they were ambushed.

Etsushi only warning was the sound of a thud from behind him. He turned expecting to see someone who had tripped and saw instead a crouch figure clad in black. The half second it took for him to register was enough time for both of his legs to be broken in one single fluid move. His shout was enough to alert the other men but it was too late. The ninja moved swiftly, incapacitating each one of them. The entire fight had lasted less than a minute and only one of them had been able to draw their sword, for the little good it did him. None of them were in any condition to move on to the target and for the rest of the night they were left wondering what happened to the rest of the men.

The next morning several of the enemy came with medical supplies to collect them, the battle and war had been lost. From what he was able to piece together the entire situation had been a setup from the beginning. Apparently, the Land of the Sea had entered into a contract with the Mist to annex the peninsula so their shipbuilders could buy the wood at a cheaper price.

However, the plan itself had been devised by the Mist itself. As Claw's army had been tied up with a diversion on the peninsula the real attack had been launched on the daimyo's castle. A force of a mere ten ninjas had been enough to take the undermanned castle and force the daimyo to sign a humiliating peace treaty at kunai point. Not only was the ownership of the peninsula signed away they were forced to pay a huge indemnity, most of which was going to go to pay off the Mist but the worst was yet to come.

A week after their humiliating defeat their daimyo announced, that over two hundred of his samurai were to be relieved of their duties. Only those with positions in the government and enough man to maintain the castle were spared from the purge. Many of their former duties that they had performed were now to be outsourced to the Mist. Apparently, the fact that very few samurai had not been killed by the ninja that night had neither been coincidence or act of mercy. Instead it had been a way to show their superiority over the traditional samurai.

This was unacceptable to even the men who were spared like Etsushi's father. These men were raised as traditional samurai raised to respect their Lord and at a moments notice be prepared to lay down their lives on his order. In exchange for their absolute loyalty they were supposed to be rewarded not cast aside on a whim. There was only one option a letter of rebuke.

A letter of rebuke was the only way a retainer could denounce an action by his Lord. There were countless stories of the effect of such letters could have on a daimyo. For in each case the writer had to pay with his life by committing Seppuku a sacrifice that cannot be overlooked. It was a last desperate attempt to save their way of life and his father was in the thick of it.

His father's decision was never discussed openly but it was clear his mother was against it. As for Etsushi he saw it as his father's last lesson to him. On the day his father was to delivered the letter he said to him "take care of your mother and if my twenty-five years of service means nothing to our daimyo. Then you should leave his service and find a worthy lord." Those were his father's last words to him and the last he saw of him.

Days passed and nothing happened there was not even any acknowledgement that his father and a half dozen other men had sacrificed themselves in an attempt to keep their daimyo's honor. After a week with no response he left his daimyo service. With no prospects his marriage with Shina was canceled her father refused to let her marry a Ronin master less samurai.

It took months for his legs to heel and by that time they improvised. For the first time in his life he left the country he was born in hoping to find a new lord to serve. He knew it would not be easy but he underestimated how hard it would be. He was a samurai from an insignificant country and he found his talents were not needed by other daimyo's. Most only used samurai for decorative pieces and none wanted a retainer.

If it was not for his mother, he would've rejected this cold world and become a hermit. The world was like a winter storm, beautiful to look at but cold and unforgiving. The values he was raised to have loyalty, honor and even morality seemed to be lacking from this latter time. If he had been born in a different time he would not have fallen so low to become a mercenary to support his mother.

The only thing that had made it bearable was the opportunity it gave him to fight and study ninjas. It started as an attempt to justify all of his training, that everything he had done was not meaningless and he had just been unprepared to fight them that night. Genjutsu was the hardest thing to get around but eventually he learned ways.

He became famous as a cheaper alternative to hiring a ninja and probably could have become wealthy if he wasn't so selective about the jobs he would take. First there had to be a high probability of actually fighting a ninja and the other was a need to have the moral high ground. That last part was very important to him it was the only thing that separates him from being the same as a ninja.

What had begun as a grudge against the Mist ninja had slowly grown into a hatred for all ninja. They were held in too high of regard for being mercenaries. Assassinations, murders, intimidation and even theft could all be had for a price. Perhaps he could have even accepted this, if they had had a code of conduct among themselves or at least loyalty to something other than their own interests. Even their hidden villages held a loose grip on them judging by the amount of missing Nin's there were.

For ten years he lived like that and then he was offered a chance to become a retainer to a country he had only heard of. Remembering his father's last words to him he took it. He sent for his mother who spent the last years of her life in comfort and as for Shina he inquired but she had moved on.

A year later the Council was started. Being the only retainer to Lord Mitsuhide Tenzo, which could claim to have killed at least one ninja from each of the major powers his opinion was highly valued. He'd never regretted his decision but some nights he wondered if his father would approve of what he was doing and it bothered him he couldn't answer that question.


	12. Chapter 12

Sasuke glanced down at a sleeping Kado wondering how he the brat could still irritate him even when he was sleeping. Needing to clear his mind and get away from the group, he excused himself. Reluctantly, he admitted to himself that the anger he felt towards the boy was only partially because of the near constant stream of questions he had asked him all day.

He had only recently activated his family's kekkei genkai and he had the benefit of having his family scrolls to work with. So how was it possible that a nine year old bastard without any training surpassed him at that age? First it was Naruto, who had surpassed him, then Sakura had saved his life and now there was another Sharingan user even younger than he was. It seemed everyone was stronger than him. Why was he so weak?

Itachi had said he lacked hatred but that wasn't true. The respect, jealousy and even love he had once had for his brother had been replaced with a burning desire to see him dead. Still he wasn't able to kill him why? When he had been racing to confront his brother there had been no conflict of emotions towards him. But there had been a very small part of him that had been worried about Naruto. Had that been enough to distract him?

Looking back to his teammates they seemed always to be getting in his way. During his fight on the bridge, he had been close to figuring out how to defeat his opponent when he had unconsciously tried to sacrifice himself to save Naruto. When he had fought Orochimaru in the chunin exam he had worried about Sakura. Why had he allowed himself to start to care about them?

Memories of the three of them sharing meals together, finally reaching the top of that tree closely followed by Naruto or even the times they would take a short break from training, he had enjoyed those times, feeling part of a group again having someone to share an accomplishment with. He had even started to tease Naruto back with that autograph photo of that actress he likes.

By allowing himself to care about his teammates, he had become weaker. His brother had only been partially right, it wasn't that he lacked hatred it just wasn't pure. He had been deceiving himself. He needed to stop playing around. He needed to test his strength. He couldn't allow himself to care about more people.

The sounds of familiar footsteps behind him broke into his thoughts. "What do you want Naruto?"

After a long pause "why are you acting like a jerk to Kado?" The familiar grinning idiot was gone, replaced by his rarely seen serious self.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I've hardly said a word to him."

"Yeah, that's the problem. He's trying to get to know you and you're treating him like he's just some annoying kid! He's your family. You could at least try to get along with him. What happened to wanting to rebuild your clan?"

"Family, clan" Sasuke laughed without any humor. "You shouldn't talk about things you know nothing about it makes you sound like an idiot. A family is more than just people with the same kekkei genkai. Of course that's something you wouldn't know anything about."

Naruto's reaction wasn't what Sasuke had expected from him, he wanted him angry as angry as when he fought Gaara. He wanted to fight and defeat him when he wasn't holding anything back and instead he was actually thinking about what he had just said.

"I don't know who my parents were. I don't even know if I have some distant relation out there somewhere. If I did though, I would try to accept them. Not ignore them like you're doing to Kado!"

"What did you think, I was going to let him follow me around all day and play ninja with him? Like you do with those kids who follow you around? I'll let him look at my family scrolls but I don't have any intention of accepting the little bastard as an Uchiha."

"Don't call him that" Naruto said through his clenched teeth.

"It's what he is and it's not like anyone cares about him. He was born to be a weapon for his village and then they traded him for a handful of missions. Konoha only cares about him because he possesses and has activated my family's kekkei genkai the most feared one on the continent. If he had"

Even though Sasuke was purposely provoking him the speed of Naruto's punch was still surprising. Dodging the punch he countered with a roundhouse kick to Naruto's jaw. Pulling back Sasuke fell into a defensive stance wanting to make sure that he wasn't going to hold back.

"What's up with you Sasuke, you've been acting weird since we got back from that mission to Tea!"

Angry with the reminder of his latest failure he charged Naruto. He attacked his friend with a series of vicious punches and kicks. Sasuke's attacks lacked finesse but made up for it in power. His last punch was caught and he was thrown to the ground. Rolling to his feet his hands flashed through several signs ending in Tiger. Irritated with himself that he had to resort to using a jutsu to beat the loser.

Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, a large ball of bright orange fire brightened the land, singeing the top of the grass and engulfing Naruto. The flames cleared to reveal a burning log. A substitution, great he thought and I just ruined my night vision. Knowing Naruto would probably charge him from wherever he was, he started to prepare a Chidori. Hearing a sound from behind he turned to charge Naruto.

He was preparing that strange jutsu of his the one that Kakashi had stopped him from using on that boy from Kumo. Why did he need a clone this time? He pushed those questions out of his mind. They were about to meet when a familiar figure interpose himself between the two of them. Throwing both of them in opposite directions, his Chidori being lightning-based grounded itself once it hit the grassy ground.

"Now is not the time for you to be sparring with each other. Besides, those jutsus should never be used on someone from the same village as yourself." Kakashi's voice sounded both exasperated and tired at the same time Sasuke thought. Why did he have to jump in he was about to win and prove himself.

"Naruto go check on Kado, if you're fight woke him he might be scared being alone. I need to have a talk with Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't want to talk but besides the camp there was no where to go. He watched as his sensei kick dirt over the burning log not caring what he had to say to him. Kakashi turned and said to him in a rather cheerful voice.

"Well your first day as a clan head could have gone better. First you seem to do everything you can to alienate the only other member of your clan and then you go off and try to kill your teammate."

Anger flared within Sasuke, who was he to judge him! What did he know about wanting to achieve something? "That kid is not an Uchiha."

"Do you really think Kado Uchiha is the first born outside of a marriage? The Uchiha clan has always been united by their head. Will you break the tradition and separate your clan into that of branch and main?"

"Stop talking like you know anything about me. You don't know what it's like to lose everyone you care about and you know nothing about my clan. So stop telling me what I should do." With that he intended to leave when a shuriken with a wire connected to it wrapped around his legs tripping him up. He glared up at his sensei that was holding the wire that kept him from untangling himself.

"My family died when I was very young" Kakashi said, as he removed his Hitai-ate and stared down at him. "This eye was given to me by my best friend as he lay dying. Within two years, I would lose my other teammate and sensei. They were the last people I allowed myself to care about."

Recovering his eye he continued "We've both have had it rough, but we have good friends now and you have a chance to start rebuilding your clan. Give up on revenge. Concentrate on what you have before you lose that to. Think about it. We are leaving early tomorrow so get some sleep."

Following his sensei back to camp at a distance, Sasuke reflected that he had just learned more about his sensei in the past few minutes then he had over the last several months. He thought about Naruto and Sakura friends, he supposed so. He really had nothing to compare them to. He cared about them even if they frustrated him at times.

He thought about what Kakashi said and remembered his father apologizing for his oldest son. Kakashi was right there was no difference in status among the Uchiha, the head looked after all equally. So the brat was an Uchiha even if just a bastard one. He would've preferred not to know of his existence or at least until he had killed Itachi but it wasn't like he was going anywhere now. He was the clan head of the Uchiha and that made Kado his responsibility.

Giving up on killing his brother though was not an option. He had to avenge his parents and family. As much as he wanted to he couldn't sacrifice one goal for the other. His father would never forgive him if he failed the clan. Besides he would never feel safe until his brother was dead.

Arriving back at camp he was glad to see that Naruto was sleeping. He didn't want to explain why he felt the need to pick a fight with him earlier. Besides he was incapable of holding a grudge for more than a few days and would soon forget it. Not wanting to confront his conflicting thoughts he escaped into sleep by using the jutsu that Kakashi had taught him earlier.

Like most ninjas Sasuke was a light sleeper. Unfortunately, he could not yet distinguish between the sounds of an approaching enemy and nature. Seeing that Kakashi was not stirring he relaxed. Out of habit he glanced over were the other two were sleeping and for a second an irrational fear spread through him, Kado was not where he was supposed to be.

Sitting up in the knee-high grass he immediately found him standing about twenty feet away staring at some thunderheads in the distance with a ratty blanket loosely wrapped around him. He was about to go back to sleep when something that Naruto had said came back to him.

Cursing his blond friend he got up and uneasily approached Kado. If he didn't start it here and now he wasn't sure if he ever could. His mind cast around for something to say but it came up blank. Sasuke admitted to himself that he didn't have much experience with starting conversations. So, he fell back on something that he had heard people discuss at length.

"I hope it's not going to rain on us"

The kid jumped apparently not hearing his approach and stared at him silently for a minute before turning back to watch the storm. "I think it's going to go north of us. Besides it's only heat lightning, no rain. In a few weeks that lightning will be starting brushfires that's something you really have to worry about."

"They taught you how to read weather patterns in Kemurigakure?"

"The weather can be a useful tool."

That pretty much had exhausted the conversation Sasuke thought. He wished that the kid would go back to asking some more annoying questions.

"You don't like me much do you?"

The blunt question caught Sasuke by surprise and he was only saved from answering immediately by the distance sound of rolling thunder. "I just wasn't expecting to find another Sharingan user."

"But I thought you came all this way, just to get me?"

The confused look directed at him reminded Sasuke of the web of lies that had been told to the kid. "I came here because of a rumor but I really wasn't prepared to find another Sharingan user." At least, that story was truer than what had been told about his mother.

"I'm really not that good with the Sharingan. I mean it's supposed to let us copy any jutsu we see with it, right? But a lot of times I can't do them right."

Sasuke would never admit it to anyone but he was glad to hear that the kid was having at least some trouble. "When you copy something you still need the necessary abilities such as speed or chakra capacity and control."

"I know that. I only tried ones that are D-rank or lower and everyone says, I have the chakra level of a Genin but sometimes I still screw them up" Kado whined sounding more like his earlier self.

"I'll help you figure it out when we get to Konoha." His words were harsher than he had intended but he didn't like the thought that this kid might be stronger than he was at the same age. Still he didn't want to destroy the little progress he had made. "How did you activate your Sharingan anyway?"

Kado laughed nervously and turned away "well you see me and some of the other kids were going into town to celebrate my birthday." His tone dropped "we were halfway to town when we were attacked by a wave of kunai. I thought some were already dead but some were just injured and I couldn't abandon them. So, I tried to block the next wave of incoming kunai when it activated."

Kado spun around on his heel and grinned up at him. "Of course once I activated the Sharingan I saw it was all a Genjutsu. I really should've noticed it earlier I thought everyone was acting a bit strange. Sensei had set the whole thing up she said it was her birthday present to me."

Sasuke had read in his family scrolls how the Sharingan could be awakened and even evolved in the middle of battle but a fake one? He guessed it could work if it was real enough. "When was your birthday?"

"Two weeks ago but all that stuff happened last year."

Cold anger came over Sasuke. This kid was a bit too much like Itachi. No, Itachi's talent had been natural, while Kado's had been forced out by others. Besides they were family they should at least try to get along.

* * *

Naruto grinned as he traveled through the trees glad to be back in Konoha. Retrieving the lost Uchiha had not been difficult but it had not been fun either. At least Sasuke and Kado seemed to be getting along better now, even if they only seem to talk about the Sharingan. Maybe he had knocked some sense into Sasuke's head after all.

Sasuke, he still didn't know what was up with him. He had been acting odd, even before the whole Kado thing. They had almost fought at the hospital before Kakashi sensei had interrupted them and during that night in Grass they had. It was weird, in hindsight Sasuke seemed as if he was trying to start a fight with him but why not just ask he was always up for it? Maybe all Uchiha's were all a bit odd.

Slowing down as he approached his target he forgot about trying to figure out his friend. The Konohamaru Corps had a base around here where they tended to play most of the time and he still had that promise to Iruka to fulfill. Fortunately, Konohamaru was alone practicing throwing some kunai at a target that Naruto had set up for them a few weeks ago.

Hanging upside down from a tree branch, Naruto pretended to be observing his technique while trying to figure out how to approach the subject with him.

"You need to use your wrist more" Naruto said jumping down startling the younger boy. Exhibiting what he meant he was disappointed that the kunai didn't hit dead center.

"Naruto" Konohamaru exclaimed a bit startled before trying what Naruto had shown him.

There was a slight improvement Naruto thought, as Konohamaru went to retrieve the kunai knives. "So where are the other two?"

"Udon has a family thing to do and Moegi is kind of grounded."

"Why" Naruto asked. He always thought that Moegi was one to avoid getting into trouble.

"Don't know it was either because of the time we locked the teachers in their lounge or the day we skipped a boring day at the Academy to train here instead" Konohamaru said proudly.

The irony of what he was about to say was not lost on him. After all, Konohamaru was only doing similar things that he had done for attention. Although his pranks had been a bit more elaborate. Still he liked that Konohamaru was trying so hard to imitate him. "You should stop doing those sorts of things." .

"But you said that you always used to do those sorts of things so why can't I?" The hurt look Konohamaru was giving him bothered him more than it probably should have. It almost made him regret that he had promised to do this for Iruka.

"Well" he stopped, not wanting to explain that he had been lonely and just wanted people to know that he existed. Instead he created a clone and started to perform what was becoming his favorite technique. He paused making sure that Konohamaru got a good look at the spinning ball of chakra in his hand before pushing it into a nearby tree. Unconsciously, he had demonstrated it the same way Jiraiya had with him.

The amazed look on Konohamaru's face followed by the stream of questions was exactly what he was hoping for. "It's called the Rasengan and it took me weeks to learn it. It wouldn't have taken me so long if I had paid a little more attention to some of Iruka's lessons. When it comes to history and math you can do whatever you want but for the rest, please pay attention. I don't want you making the same mistakes I've made Konohamaru."

After a long silence the younger boy looked up at him and grinned. "All right Naruto, but you have to teach me how to do the Rasengan too."

"Fine I'll teach it to you when you become a Genin but I'm telling you now, it not going to be easy."

"I'm going to be Hokage one day so I'll learn it in half the time it took you."

Naruto grinned back glad to see that his bribe had work before remembering the second thing he wanted to discuss with Konohamaru. "Hey, did you know that the Academy will be getting a new student soon."

"Really" Konohamaru sounded interested. Normally, students dropped out of the Academy not transferred in.

"Yeah his name is Kado Uchiha, he's related to Sasuke in some way. Well my last mission was to escort him here. He's been kind of having a hard time lately. So if he ends up in your class could you just show him around for the first few days?"

Konohamaru looked as if he was thinking it over. "All right, but then you're going to have to buy me two bowls of ramen."

"Fine" Naruto said remembering how he would always try to squeeze a second bowl of ramen out of Iruka.

They walked in silence for awhile until Konohamaru spoke up in an unusually subdued tone. "Hey Naruto is something going on out there?"

It wasn't hard for him to figure out what he was asking. It turned out that the poster thing was common knowledge but the secret blacksmith shop still wasn't. He felt bad about telling only half the truth but he didn't know much more than anyone else. "Something's going on I just don't know what it is."

* * *

Etsushi wandered the dark halls of his private residence. Insomnia was something new for him. Between his conscience and the changes in the plan he found his mind unable to rest. Apparently arranging a murder was completely different than setting up an ambush. Well, at least it was done. Ekei would die on his little raid which would coincidentally provide the excuse for the ships to withdraw. He had chosen two retainers to carry out that part of the plan just in case one would die before hand.

The only problem was every time he saw someone with a Buddhist hood on he would avoid them in case he was Ekei. A task made considerably more difficult now that the first ship had arrived and disgorged over six hundred men. Within a few weeks they would all be here.

To add to his concerns there had been massive changes from the initial plan. The initial plan had called for wiping out the smaller hidden villages first which would hopefully spread panic through the other hidden villages. Ideally they would close themselves off which would make them easier to destroy. Of course it had always been unlikely that it would be that simple.

Now there was going to be three attacks at one time. He would attack and destroy Kemurigakure on the same day the raid on the Mist would be launched. Meanwhile, Nagoya Tenzo would attack a small village called Katabami Kinzan currently being held by a group of Shinobazu. It was believed that one of the criminals there was a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. The presence of such a high-value target had been enough to sway his young lord to switch missions.

Unfortunately, the revised plan left no possibility of anonymity. Those ships would instantly identify them. This would increase the chance that their castle could be attacked by a coalition of hidden villages. This was not as bad as it sounded considering the distrust and opportunism that made up their society. The distrust meant alliances were weak and were often discarded when no longer convenient. This fed the opportunism which meant that if anyone hidden village committed most of the force to an attack that meant their village could be attacked. Not that it really mattered this castle had been modified to withstand a small or large-scale attack by ninjas. He was just worrying about pulling all three attacks simultaneously.

At least there was no shortage of good news. Musket production was as expected and the moot defense system was finally working. The chance of losing their cannons on the foolish raid was low and they still had a trump card. The longer this war would go on for the larger their ranks would swell and the ninjas would shrink. These muskets were great in that regard little training was needed to use them compared to a sword. Things were looking good for them.


	13. Chapter 13

"You're back" Kakashi said not taking his eye off his book.

"What can I say, the women of Konoha inspire me in a way that no others can." Despite Jiraiya's words his tone lacked its normal exuberance.

"What brings you back here?"

"I was checking up on some rumors in the Land of Water. Apparently, Kirigakure almost caught two of the people putting up those posters. Both of them manage to kill themselves before they could be interrogated. To make things worse Kirigakure like many of the smaller villages has practically shut down. Only high-level Chunin and above are allowed out of the village."

"That confirms what the Kumo ambassador said."

"Speaking of which, Tsunade filled me in on the history between you two. Why did you allow someone from Kumogakure to get that close to Naruto? You do remember their tendency to kill other villages Jinchuriki," Jiraiya said as if he was lecturing a slow student.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the two. The arrival of a Kumogakure ambassador had confirmed that the situation was far more serious than anyone had originally thought. After all Kumo was famous for their secrecy and overall sense of paranoia towards other hidden villages.

War Kakashi thought, he had hoped that his students would not grow up in such times, but where else could these events lead to? There was an unknown enemy out there and they were right now attacking all of the hidden villages economically. At lease the Akatsuki they could understand, but who are these people and what were their goals?

Kakashi suddenly broke the silence "You taught him the Rasengan." It was not a question; his tone made it an accusation.

"I thought he had a right to know it. So, he showed it to you did he?" Jiraiya said as he went back to his research of a nearby bathhouse.

"No he didn't. I've only seen him use it twice. The first time I saw him use it was on that mission Tsunade told you about. We wanted to see what our students were capable of before attacking the target. Naruto's opponent threw some cayenne powder in his eyes and I think the Kyuubi gave him some chakra for a moment."

Jiraiya laughed "in the course of my research I have been maced once or twice. If he was hit with a concentrated form, I can see how the Kyuubi would think Naruto was dying."

"He needs to learn how to control it. I think you can do that better than I can." Kakashi didn't like admitting that, he felt as if he was failing Naruto somehow, but he had to put his student's welfare above his own pride.

It was supposed to be a simple mission, take three Genin and turn them into Chunin. A fairly simple task in theory, in reality S rank missions were easier to accomplish. For awhile things had been looking good, Naruto was improving, Sasuke was less intense and Sakura was taking her training seriously. Now things have changed particularly with Sasuke. He was frustrated and angry with himself. Any hope that Kado might have distracted him from revenge was gone. After watching his two students fight he was convinced that Sasuke was prepared to kill Naruto that night. So, he made sure the two were never alone.

That was easy in the morning when Sakura was with them but in the afternoon she trained under Tsunade. That thought brought up mixed feelings. He was proud that she has shown initiative and had thought through a way to improve herself but she hadn't felt it necessary to discuss it with him. He couldn't blame her, Naruto and Sasuke demanded a lot of his attention and it was easy to forget she needed some to. He had been thinking of teaching her some genjutsu's but training under Tsunade would be better for her. How had his sensei made all this look so easy?

"You're right of course, but it will take a long time." Jiraiya stood to leave "I can't do it now though. Have to track down those disappearing monks. If I find them I'll probably find out who's behind all this. I just wanted to check on Naruto while I was in town."

Kakashi had known Jiraiya for a long time. The only other time he had seen him this shook up was when the Kyuubi was at the gates of Konoha. While he himself had not been to the Land of Water during their civil war and the resulting anti-ninja violence spawned by its people, the level of hostility towards ninja's must be considerable, if not only Kirigakure was scared but Jiraiya.

Right now all he could do was prepare his team the best he could, for whatever may come. Sasuke was not combat ready, he was distracted and Kakashi hoped a few days of private training would fix that. In order to do that he would have to find something for Naruto to do for several days. Fortunately he found a mission that he would jump at.

Walking into the clearing where his students were practicing he called an end to the training for today. He had given Sasuke a chakra building exercise to do and Naruto had spent the afternoon trying to reduce a training post to splinters. Both had trained hard and were clearly exhausted.

Predictably, Naruto ask his now familiar question. "Sensei, when are we going to have another mission?"

Sighing Kakashi answered, "How would you like to help Sakura on a training mission Naruto?"Naruto smiled while blushing and Kakashi wondered what fantasy he had just conjured up for himself.

"Just Sakura and me alone, on a mission, what do we have to do?" He said with a grin spreading across his face.

"Report to the Hokage for instructions" he caught Naruto before he ran off and handed him a scroll. "Read this in your free time." After he let him run off he turned back to Sasuke and continued "you will be starting training to learn a new move tomorrow." Sasuke grunted in acknowledgment.

* * *

Sasuke's limbs trembled with fatigue as he climbed the stairs to his apartment. Normally, he would train an additional two to three hours after he was dismissed but the last six weeks had been fairly intense and he was completely exhausted. Fortunately, it was Kado's turn to make dinner. That had been the one good thing that had come out of the whole lost Uchiha disaster; he only had to cook dinner every other day. Once he and Kado had exhausted the topic of the Sharingan he had realized they had little to discuss. Well at least little Sasuke wanted to discuss.

By the time he reached his floor it took him a minute to recognize that someone was standing at his door and another to recognize who he was. What was Iruka doing here? He hadn't seen the man since the Chunin exams and hadn't talked to him since he graduated. So why was he leaving a note on his door?

"Can I help you?" Iruka seemed startled to hear his voice. This only confirmed his theory that teachers were teachers because they were weak. He hadn't been trying to be stealthy.

"Sasuke, I was hoping I could catch you. There's something about Kado, I wanted to discuss with you. Is now a good time?

Irritation flared up in Sasuke. He had almost forgotten that the laws of Konoha made him responsible for Kado. Had there been some sort of meeting he forgot to go to? "What do you want to discuss?"

Iruka paused like he was expecting to be invited in to sit. "Well" he started slowly "Kado is a smart boy and he picks up things fast." Iruka let out a nervous laugh probably at the absurdity of the situation. After all, it wasn't that long ago that Sasuke had been one of his students.

He started again "Well, the class was going to have a history test on the founding principles of Konoha today. When I opened the drawer that I had the test in, I found that it had been booby-trapped. Needless to say the test was ruined and had to be rescheduled.

"Normally Konohamaru and one of his friends are involved in such things, but this time Kado said he had set it up with Konohamaru. If this was the first incident I wouldn't have mentioned it to you but it's not. I was teaching some of the ideas of ninja know how, when I noticed he was sleeping in the middle of the class. I asked him to repeat what we had just learned and he recited the entire list, most kids his age only know about half."

Sasuke was confused, why was he being bothered about this. "What's your point?"

"Oh sorry, well I think he's acting out because he's bored. I don't know what they taught him in his previous village but he's far ahead of his classmates. I think he should be skipped ahead at least one age group. So why don't you two discuss it and get back to me in a few days." With one of his idiot smiles he turned and left.

Sasuke stood there for several minutes trying to comprehend what he had just been told. He had been at the top of his class every year and had never been skipped ahead. Perhaps the problem was with Konoha and not himself. After all Iruka credited Kado success to his previous hidden village. That thought led to a dead end. Kado circumstances had been extraordinary and it wasn't like he could just show up at another village and asked to be trained.

He found that thought to be unsettling and went to take a long shower in hopes of clearing his mind. His life wasn't going as he had planned. He thought rebuilding his clan would have satisfied him but he found himself frustrated. Perhaps it was because Itachi was still alive or that Kado had just sort of appeared. It seemed the things he strived for were out of his grasp while the things he had not worked for fell into his lap. It was like some gigantic cosmic joke.

His fingers crept to the cursed seal on his neck. He remembered the one time he had used it everything had been so easy. Even after the six weeks of training Kakashi had put him through he was still not as strong or as fast as he had been that time. Unfortunately, he lacked control the one time he had used it. Power without control was meaningless, without control he couldn't kill Itachi.

"Dinner's ready" Kado's voice which had lost its nasal tone once his nose had fully healed, broke into his thoughts.

He was frustrated that he had lost track of time and not hearing Kado in the kitchen. Quickly drying off and dressing he walked into what passed for his dining room. He still wasn't used to Kado, just about every time he saw him he was surprized. Sakura had mentioned that he had appeared to resemble him at that age but he didn't see it. He couldn't see himself devouring a bowl of Oyakodon like Kado was doing.

He hated these meals they had together, but this time he would preempt the start of the conversation. Before Kado would start asking about his family or some other subject he didn't wish to discuss. "You're being moved up to the next age group."

Kado's reaction was almost comical. He was either surprised that Sasuke had started a conversation or was surprised by what he said. Either way he was choking rather comically on his food before he could talk. "Uh, what, how, why?" He stared at Sasuke in complete shock.

"You're sensei says you can move up so, you're moving up."

"But I don't want to, it's really easy there and I have friends."

"You're an Uchiha you have to be strong. If they say you can move up you move up."

"I don't want to leave my friends."

Kado was now standing glaring at him with his arms crossed. Sasuke half expected him to throw a tantrum like he saw little kids do in the market. "I am your clan's head and you will do as I say."

They stared at each other neither of them willing to give ground. Kado suddenly broke the staring contest and stomped off to the couch where he slept. He threw his disheveled blanket over his head. Sasuke was tempted to continue the argument but he somehow knew it would be fruitless. This wasn't the way things were supposed to be.

* * *

Etsushi walked among the ruins of Kemurigakure, like a servant of Izanami the goddess of death. The men had clearly obeyed his order of no survivors. However, he was not ghoulishly reveling over the death and destruction he had brought upon this village. Instead he was investigating how effective the new weapons had been.

The plan had been simple but brutally efficient. With the cover of night he had taken sixty men along with four cannons and had set them up on the opposite shore of the lake. From there they had bombarded Kemurigakure. After several minutes he shot a star shell into the air. The magnesium in the shell had burned bright enough to bring a false dawn to the doomed village.

The star shell had served a dual purpose. First it signaled their main force to attack the village itself. The second was that it revealed the ninjas crossing the lake to counterattack. They were caught in the best possible place for the musket wielding samurai to cut them down.

While Kemurigakure had fallen quicker than he had expected the casualties had been higher than he would have considered acceptable. He had thought that they would lose between 10 to 15 of their two hundred man force. While in reality they had lost around 35 and some of the wounded were probably not going to make it.

Fortunately, it had been one particular Jutsu that had done most of the damage. Befittingly it had used smoke and burning embers, burning any exposed skin and when inhale proved to be deadly. He had never run into such a Jutsu before and hoped it had been isolated to this hidden village.

Other than that all the injuries were what had been expected, broken limbs and cuts. Like many his left hand bled freely from where he had jammed a kakute into his palm to break a genjutsu. The small metal ring with a serrated edge had been one of the additions to the traditional samurai armor they all wore.

In the end though the high casualties were his responsibility, he had made several mistakes. The bombardment should have been longer and the main force had been too small. He had entrusted too much in the intelligence the monks had provided. This village was supposed to have been the weakest among the hidden villages but judging by how they fought it hadn't been.

"Sir, were ready to set fire to the village."

He nodded and turned to join his men. Torching the village was only partially necessary. While he wanted to destroy any evidence of what type of weapons had been used and the records of the village, he also had another reason. During his mercenary days he had seen what happened to unburied bodies. Even ninjas did not deserve the desecration of being a meal for carrions. So, the fire would also serve as their funeral pyre.

As the sun rouse the village burned. His thoughts drifted back to another village that he had had to burn several years ago. It was when he had still been a mercenary and had been hired as a bodyguard. The town was protesting high taxes imposed by the daimyo by refusing to pay. This type of situation was not that uncommon. They were either settled through negotiations or assassination of the leaders, which is why he had been hired.

By the time he had arrived, the entire town had been slaughtered. The daimyo had chosen to make an example of it and had hired ninjas to kill everyone. Perhaps that was why he didn't feel a sense of accomplishment. He finally had started the beginning of a new world and instead of being excited, he was depressed.

He thought briefly of the other two operations that should be taking place. He hoped his young lord was safe and Ekei was dead.

"Sir, I owe you an apology." The man who had spoken was Toshiro an officer who had attacked the village. His voice was strained from having his throat wrapped in gauze.

"The mistakes were mine you should've had a larger force."

"That isn't what I meant. I had doubts about what we were ordered to do." His voice broke for a second before continuing. "During the attack I came across a little girl. Dear god, she couldn't have been older than my little Sumi. I froze, I just saw my little Sumi standing there staring at me and before I knew it, she was at my throat." The man's eyes were full of unshed tears and his voice shook as he continued. "Who would teach such a little girl how to kill a man?"

Etsushi grasps the man's shoulder in sympathy. "Their sins are countless and that is why we are doing this. The world will be better without them."

The group continued on to where they had rendezvoused earlier before dispersing into smaller groups to meet up back at the castle. Etsushi noticed that many of the men were in high spirits. For a long time most of these men had feared the ninjas but they had just learned that they were mortal like any other man and with that revelation the future looked bright.

The fires that had been set in Kemurigakure burned intensely. It had not rained for weeks and the heat had sucked out any moisture that was left in the timbers that made up the buildings. The smoke rouse high into the air and with small embers. The wind blew these embers over the wall that surrounded the village landing in the dry grass.

For years both of grasses hidden villages had a standing contract to put out such fires and they had done so very effectively but with the destruction of Kemurigakure it would take at least a day for anyone to arrive from Kusagakure.

By that time the fire would have grown to be the largest in decades, eventually it would eventually engulf nearly one third of the nation of Grass. The birth of this historical fire would have gone unnoticed, if not for a little girl who had chosen to do some survival training for the last week.

Perhaps if she had run to the other nearby village for help in fighting the fire it would not have grown to mammoth proportions. However, she had just watched her village be destroyed and as far as she was concerned the world had already ended.

* * *

Naruto rubbed his forehead, he had grown accustomed to having his Hitai-ate on all the time and it felt strange not to have it on. Granny Tsunade had told them that before they could leave the village they couldn't look like ninjas which meant no Hitai-ate. Of course, when he had been told that he had to lose his orange outfit, he almost refused to go on the mission but, for the chance to be alone with Sakura he was willing to do just about anything.

Even if it meant wearing a plain light blue shirt with gray shorts that he had bought from a secondhand store. He wasn't even supposed to fight anyone. On the off chance they ran into some violent villagers, he was supposed to create as many clones as he could and they would escape during the chaos. As his eyes drifted over to Sakura who still looked beautiful to him even dressed like a farmer's daughter, he thought to himself that the day couldn't get much better.

"What" the pink haired girl asked.

"Ugh, how did you hear about this stuff were supposed to collect anyway?" Naruto said, while blushing with embarrassment.

Sighing she explained, "Lee was trying to build up his stamina after his surgery so he and his sensei went for a run. He pushed himself too hard and collapsed near this restaurant called the Curry Shop of Life. Supposedly after eating some of their special curry Lee completely recovered. The way he described it sounded like he took a soldier pill."

"So bushy brows ate this stuff and it had the same effect as a soldier pill? But we already have soldier pills, so why do we need to find out what this stuff is?"

"Because" Sakura started irritably, "soldier pills have side effects such as addiction, ruptured blood vessels and reduce effectiveness after prolonged use. If we could find a substitute for them we would have an advantage over the other villages. They sent me because it's part of my training to gather new medicines and they send you because it would look odd for a girl my age to be traveling alone."

That killed the conversation for awhile and they continued on in fairly companionable silence before Sakura asked a question. "Do you think Sasuke has been acting differently lately?"

Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke why does she always think about him? Naruto thought irritably, "What do you mean?"

"I thought he would be happy that he found another member of his clan but ever since Kado showed up, he seems even more cold and distant. I'm worried that the cursed seal is affecting him."

"What cursed seal?"


	14. Chapter 14

Fear was an interesting emotion, Captain Asuka thought. It affected men differently, some lost their heads and others like him became eerily calm. At forty-five he had never had a run-in with pirates or even been in so much as in a bar fight. When he wasn't at sea he had preferred to be with his wife and three kids. So, when he was told he would be sailing into combat he had been terrified and almost refuse to do it.

He was not a coward by any means. After all, he came from a long line of fishermen which was not a career for the timid. While he had been taught respect for the sea and it capricious moods, you did not become a captain at his age without a certain level of courage. He had taken his ship, the Morningstar, through storms that would have ripped apart traditional wooden ships and had hacked off inch-thick ice on her deck.

These monks though, they scared him more than anything else. When he had been told that he would be shipping people instead of catching fish he had shrugged it off, the considerable amount of ryo he had been given dissuaded him from asking questions. The crates that had been loaded onto the ship a few days before departure had not even raised any questions. That was until his passengers opened them and started to mount those things on his ship.

He confronted them and they said that they were following instructions directly from Lord Mitsuhide Tenzo himself. Not wanting to anger his daimyo, he had allowed them to continue not knowing it would be the first of many demands. It had been particularly galling when they had ordered him to anchor off a small uninhabited island for them to practice with their cannons.

These monks were a militant sect something he thought only existed in stories. They carried themselves with an intensity that was unnerving and seemingly unenlightened. The fact that they all carry Naginata, a long spear like weapon used for slashing along with swords and bows added to their soldier like appearance. He had been more than happy to throw them off his ship as soon as they got to port, only to be told to do it all over again.

He had made the trip three times and had sworn he wouldn't do it again but here he was. Not only had the bribe been considerably larger, worth about three months worth of good fishing but Lord Tenzo himself had asked him to do this. At that point he had no choice in the matter.

Still, sailing this close to an unknown coast, at night, with no running lights, seemed like a fancy way to get himself killed. He half expected to hear the rending of metal as a submerged rock tore through his ship despite its sixth inch steel hull. All to get into range of Kirigakure. Damn it, he didn't want to be here.

He pulled out a cigarette from his pack, he had been trying to quit but not today. Fishing around in his pocket he eventually found his lighter but was stopped before he could light up. He glared at the hand that had stopped him "what?"

"No lights. We did not go through all the trouble of attacking under a new moon just to have the effect ruined by your need for a cigarette," Ekei snapped in his raspy voice. They stared at each other the sparse starlight providing the only illumination. He reluctantly pocketed his lighter and dropped his cigarette to the deck. He couldn't wait until he no longer had to take orders from this man.

"How much longer."

Trying and failing to keep the annoyance out of his voice he answered "about ten minutes that is, if we don't ground ourselves on an unchartered sandbar."

"And the other ships?"

Turning to look out the back of his bridge he could only make out the vague outline of the other three ships. "They still looked like they're right behind us."

Ekei nodded and left the bridge saying he was going to prepare the men, leaving him alone with the two samurai guards. Asuka could not wait to get that man off of his ship. He had constantly been giving him orders and it had been his order to wait until night to approach Kirigakure.

"Captain Asuka when I tell you to pull out do it immediately. Do you understand?"

Turning he answered "But that's." Seeing the look on the samurai's face he stopped himself and just nodded. Something had changed and he thought it may be better if he didn't know what was going on. For the next several minutes the only sounds on the bridge were the engines quietly pushing them forward and the creaking of the deck beneath their feet.

A flash of light from the deck signaled the all stop order. It took him a minute to signal the engine room to stop and to flash the signal to the other ships behind them. Normally he would have men assisting him on the bridge but he was running with a skeleton crew.

Ships cannot just stop, instead they must either throw themselves in reverse to stop there forward momentum or just coast to a relative stop which was what he was doing. The silence was eerie and was only broken by the soft idling of the engines.

With nothing else to do but still wanting to look busy he picked up his binoculars and gazed at the village. Through the mist he made out several large official looking buildings that were constructed out of stone. Besides that oddity the rest of Kirigakure looked almost like any other village in the early morning. He could almost imagine it was his home town, if it wasn't for the apartment buildings he could see.

That surprised him he had grown up on stories where ninja had been all types of villains. It was disappointing to see that they lived in normal homes. He almost felt bad for what they were about to do to them.

Sixteen cannons fired shaking the deck beneath them. A second later one of the guards turned on the lights flooding the deck and surrounding sea with light as the other ships let loose their salvos. In less than one minute, sixty-four cannons had fired their deadly cargo. The cannonballs smashed through the wooden houses maiming or killing anyone in their path.

Asuka looked away once he saw an apartment building take a hit as a cheer rose from some of the men. The now familiar smell of gunpowder was making him nauseous. Several minutes later he turned back out of morbid curiosity. Many of the buildings were now on fire and he wondered how many people were dying.

The deck lurched unexpectedly sending the three men on the bridge to the floor, his knee cracked hard against the floor. For one insane sec he thought that his multi-ton ship was moving sideways. He crawled to the window and expected it to see his ship either grounded or have a gaping hole in it. What he saw was far more terrifying than what he expected to see. A huge shark was lazily swimming past his bridge its nose streamed blood but that wasn't the strange thing. It seemed to be wearing a scarf behind its dorsal fin and when one of its eyes met his it smiled.

"What the" he trailed off not knowing what to think.

"It's a summon creature, their creatures that do their masters bidding. Get to your post will be leaving soon." The samurai who had spoken to him earlier helped him to his feet.

Captain Asuka limped to his post, trying to make sense of what he had just seen it, was amazing but not as incredible as the next thing he saw. A large column of water shot out of the darkness. Smashing into a cannons hurling it end over end before it crashed to the other side of the deck along with the broken bodies of several men.

Several ninja emerged from the darkness running across the waves. It was astonishing and terrifying in its impossibility. The ninja jumped an impossible height and was cut down by several muskets before falling to the deck in a lifeless heap.

The ninja companions were more fortunate. The deck became a crazed melee of shouts and flashing steel. He heard a shot from above, one of the snipers on the roof shot one a ninja. A second later both of their bodies fell from above.

"Get down"

For the second time that day he was thrown to the deck. He heard a crash followed by an explosion. A loud ringing was the only thing he could hear and smoke filled his bridge. A sea breeze blew away most of the smoke and now he could see the three men fighting. The three were moving at what he thought was an impossible speed and he did not even see the ninja thrust a kunai into one of the samurai eyes.

The ninja must've thought that the wounded man was out of the fight, it was his fatal mistake. As the ninja turned his attention to the other samurai's, the wounded man's Katana was thrust upwards under the ninja's ribs and into his chest cavity.

He climbed to his feet noticing for the first time that all the windows were blown out. He felt disconnected from himself like he was watching from outside of his body. Slowly other sounds came back to him the cannons had started firing again and somebody seemed to be shouting something.

"Now do it now!" he was being shaken violently but he felt as if he was being woken from a dream before remembering what he was supposed to do. He had to get out of here. He had to get away from this insanity. The Morningstar lurched forward; the cannons still firing and now a single ninja was making a last stand on the deck.

The door to the bridge swung opened and Ekei ran in screaming in his hoarse whisper. "Turn back were winning, I did not give the order to retreat." He suddenly froze and stared down at his chest. He coughed up blood staining his white Buddhist hood with a spot of crimson. The tachi sword he held in his hand clattered to the ground followed by its master. The Wakizashi which had delivered the killing blow was still stuck in his back.

The guard who had made his way behind him knelt to retrieve his weapon. "We were very lucky that ninja could not do anything to the bridge. Poor Ekei though he died during that fight. Right, Captain?"

He slowly nodded shocked at the cold-blooded murder that had just taken place in front of him. Over the sound of the engines he heard the shrieks of tearing metal. Turning he saw a terrifying sight. One of the following ships had been lifted out of the water and was being held up in monstrous claws like a perverse offering to a God.

One of the ships fired and hit a claw that disappeared underneath the water. The ship hung there suspended by one claw, with a shriek of tearing metal it was snapped in half. Spilling the men on board into the sea, he knew why that shark had smiled. He wanted to go home.

* * *

Sasuke wondered what his father would think of him, he'd probably be disappointed. He had known that one day he would be the Uchiha clan's head; it was just supposed to be in the future. It never occurred to him that it would involve dealing with a disobedient nine-year old. He looked across the table at Kado who was pointedly not looking at him. He was such a stubborn child very different than how he had been at that age.

He tried to think back on how his father would have dealt with a disobedient Uchiha. Ostracizing was the only punishment he could think of. It had happened to a distant aunt of his who refuse an arranged marriage. For several weeks no one in the Uchiha district had been allowed to talk to her until she agreed to the marriage. Well they were already doing that to each other.

For the first time in his life he wished he was a little more like Naruto. Of course, he may not be any better than he was with kids. He wasn't sure if those little kids who followed him around looked up to Naruto or just like playing with him.

Before Kado would leave for the Academy he decided to make one last attempt. He said out of nowhere "We are the last two Uchiha, we have to be strong. Do you understand?"

Kado stood up from the table and washed out his bowl of cereal without saying a word. He was at the door putting on his shoes before he spoke. "You say, I'm an Uchiha but you won't tell me anything about my family. You said you would help me with my Sharingan but besides a little talking you haven't helped me at all. I get it you don't really care about me." With that he left, leaving the apartment in the silence Sasuke was used to.

Sasuke remembered himself at that age. He had confronted his brother about broken promises. He had not been so blunt, blinded by his adoration for his older brother. Kado was right about one thing. He didn't care about him as an individual. They were more or less strangers that lived in the same apartment. Still, was he that similar to Itachi?

The cup in his hand cracked as he squeezed it from frustration. He watched the cold tea dribble out of the crack and between his fingers making little river's on the table before mopping it up with a napkin. He was not his brother.

Unseen by anyone, four figures had watched the family dispute from a nearby building. "Who's the kid?" Questioned Kidomaru from where he knelt, leaning forward on two pairs of his hands while the third were folded across his chest.

"I have no information on him, could be a problem" added the rotund Jirobo.

"If he becomes a problem will kill the bastard, I'm not going back empty-handed again. We should do it now" put in Tayuya.

"We should wait till evening will get the biggest possible lead that way." Sakon said ending the conversation.

"Cowards"

He was late of course, but only by a few minutes which was different. Oddly he missed the twin you're late from his teammates but he'd get more done without them here. "Are we going to get started?" Sasuke said after several minutes of waiting.

"Your tense, relax" after a moment of silence Kakashi continued. "I'm serious its part of your training relax your shoulders, unclench your fist and relax your brow."

Frowning at the odd request he tried to relax, but found it hard to do under Kakashi's critical gaze. "Why am I doing this?"

"There are over six hundred muscles in the human body. All of these muscles telegraph our movements, to an opponent who can read them." He drew a kunai and held it as if he was about to throw it. "When you throw a kunai you have three options. Throw directly at your target; throw it to its right or its left. An average ninja will throw directly at the target, while a good ninja will try to predict where the target will be.

They do this by reading the small muscle movements that we all make. The Sharingan makes this easier to do. The more advanced your Sharingan the smaller the movement you can read. This more than any other of its capabilities is what made the Sharingan feared."

"I saw your fight with Zabuza. What does this have to do with the technique you're going to teach me?"

Letting out a sigh Kakashi continued, "To counter this ability particularly the Sharingan a technique was developed called the shadow step. There are probably only a handful of people alive who have mastered this technique. The last person in Konoha, who is known to have mastered this technique, was Minato Namikaze the fourth Hokage. You see you can't just copy this technique, it must become a part of you, part of your everyday life from sparring to eating."

Once his sensei had said countering the Sharingan, Sasuke had already promised himself that he would master the technique, no matter how long it took. "How long will it take to learn and what's the first step."

"You're starting the training young so that's an advantage and as for the first step we go for a walk."

* * *

The three shuriken made a satisfying thwack as they embedded themselves in the target. Ten years to master the shadow step, unacceptable. He would have to do it faster. The problem was, not only would he have to learn all of his little tells, but he would have to learn how to make false ones and to do so unconsciously.

As Kakashi had continued with his analogy of throwing a kunai, he would have to look as if he was going to go right, left and standstill all at the same time. Infuriatingly, some of his speed would be sacrifice in the beginning, so he'd have to train to get it back. It was almost not worth it, the memory of Itachi casual deflection of his Chidori reinforce his determination.

Looking up into the sky he estimated the time. He should be heading to his apartment after all it was his turn to make dinner. Screw it; he'd get takeout, besides the little brat could take care of himself. Drawing three more shuriken and him he continued his practice. This time he concentrated on the muscles he was using.

Throwing the shuriken they looked to be on target until they were blocked by three kunai a second later he was surrounded. A rather pissed off looking female was in front of him, a fat man to his left, a man with too many arms to his right and somebody was behind him. His hands drifted to his weapon pouch he didn't have any left, but he did have some wire. "What do you want?"

"We're the Sound Four" the woman said.

"We have come to escort you" stated the fat man.

"Escort, and where would you be escorting me to?" He asked sarcastically which seemed to irritate the woman.

"Orochimaru" the man with too many arms answered.

"But first" the man from behind said as he charged towards him.

Activating his Sharingan, he used the charging man's shoulder to do a handspring over him making sure to get the wire wrapped around his throat. Jerking on the wire as he landed the wire became a garotte. The man who looked like he had two heads was pulled violently to the ground gasping his throat crushed. He caught the fat man's punch and used his own momentum to throw him into the woman.

Leaving only the man with too many arms left standing of the four. He blocked the kick from the man who then spat something sticky in his face. Rolling away from the man he pulled the stuff off of his face and felt around for one of the fallen weapons. Grabbing a kunai he sprung towards the man stabbing him between his ribs, only to have them transform into a log.

"Not bad, considering you were trained in Konoha. I will like to see what she could do with the curse seal" the woman said from where she stood with her companions about twenty feet away.

"How do you know about my curse seal?" He demanded.

"What do you think your Orochimaru's only interest?" Spat out the man with two heads.

"Who's the kid" questioned the fat man.

An inexplicable jolt of fear went through him they knew about Kado. He didn't know why that disturbed him but he felt the need to cover up their connection. "Just some bratty kid I'm babysitting for a few days."

All four broke out in laughter though the fat man's was a bit more restrained. "Babysitting is that helping you to get revenge on your brother, or have you forgotten your purpose? Are you happy playing ninja with your little friends, doing pointless missions and wasting your talents?" The two headed man said with a smile.

"Come with us and Orochimaru will give you power. More than you'll ever get in this pathetic village," said the six arm man.

"There is a clearing two miles northeast of Konoha far from any road. We will wait three hours for you to make your decision," the fat man said before they left.

He was left standing alone in the training field torn between two conflicting responsibilities revenge for his clan and the responsibility of being its head. He wanted to go, he wanted to kill his brother and he couldn't wait ten years to do it. He was also the head of his clan and had responsibilities. If he left he would be abandoning his clan and that would make him no different than his brother.

He didn't remember how long he stood there trying to make a decision but when he made his decision it was dark. As a clan head he had little choice in the matter.


	15. Chapter 15

Authors note all of chapter 14 reviews were bad. So, I decided to go back and redo it. I split it into two so here's the second part tell me what you think.

* * *

Yugao Uzuki stood with her ANBU team watching the fire approach them. Fires were not an uncommon sight in the Land of Grass but this one was large and blocking their path. They were so common that one of its hidden villages had even put smoke in its name. She also knew that both hidden villages in Grass country had a standing contract to put out such fires. This fire though, it stretched from horizon to horizon like an insatiable snake devouring the land and showed no sign of being under control.

"Kemurigakure isn't far from here and the fire is coming from their direction," Juro her second-in-command had stated the obvious which was his way of asking for orders.

She had to make a command decision. Kemurigakure was incompetent and if the rumors were true had tried to steal one of Konoha's bloodlines but they were still officially allies. "Juro report back to Konoha that we've successfully completed our mission and I have diverted my team to investigate whether or not Kemurigakure is in need of our aid. Yoshi clear us a path."

Like always her orders weren't acknowledged they were just carried out. Juro headed south intending to go around the fire, while Yoshi summoned an oversized paper fan from a scroll and with a single graceful movement that defied his bulk, cut a small path through the wall of fire with a wind technique. As she led her team to the fire the path closed behind them.

She knew she could be overreacting but considering recent events with those posters she would prefer to be safe than sorry. The best case scenario was that she would find the ninja of Kemurigakure undermanned to fight this fire. The worst-case scenario, well she would prefer not to think about that right now. At the very least Juro would be stuck with the paperwork from the last mission.

They traveled through a wasteland devoid of plants. Here and there were small spots of life but these only emphasized the devastation. The smell of smoke filled their lungs as they kicked up soot, leaving little clouds in their wake. Several times they came across farmhouses in ruins. She hoped that the owners had some warning.

It was midday when they reached Kemurigakure. At first she thought that the defensive wall may have provided them with some protection but then she saw the two gaping holes and knew what she would find. Kemurigakure was destroyed, her buildings were gutted by fire and from her perch on the wall she could see several corpses in her streets.

"It looked like Amegakure finally chosen to settle its grudge," Mina the Medical-nin on her team said.

"Don't jump to conclusions. I want to know who did this. Then search for any scrolls that may have survived the fire watch out for traps." She almost added to check for survivors but if there were any they would be long gone by now. This could be a potential opportunity though. All villages had at least some secret techniques and if those scrolls had survived they could make them their own.

Kemurigakure had been one of their allies but not a particularly strong or important one. She regretted that thought as she came across the body of a slain child. The girl's body had been miraculously untouched by the fire. She was young, very young, and far too young to be holding a bloodstained kunai. She was wearing pajamas which told her that the village had been attacked at night. The gaping wound in her side pretty much told her the cause of death.

She walked away if she had stayed there any longer she would've had a very un-ANBU Captain like moment. Ever since Hayate death, she had found herself oddly moved by children, perhaps it had been their talk of marriage. For whatever reason she found herself grateful that she had not seen the child's face and hoping that she had killed at least one of the bastards who had attacked her village.

The next scene she came across was easier for her to handle, although it was stranger than the first. Several defenders have been killed in the same place. It was odd to see a cluster of people like that almost as if they all were killed at once. She tried to think of a Jutsu that could do that but none seem to fit the circumstances. The bodies were badly burnt so without medical training she couldn't gather any information from them. Still, she started to put together a mental image of what happened that night.

It had probably been two or three in the morning late enough that the night owls would be in bed in the morning people would not be up yet. An unknown force had advanced under the cover of night and had blown two huge holes in their defensive wall. They then had proceeded to slaughter the entire village. Leaving with their dead and wounded.

There were numerous flaws with that theory. Kemurigakure would have to be stupid not to have any guards at night. So, only a force of ninja could sneak up on them unaware and if that was the case why bother blowing holes in the wall. No, those holes meant there was a conventional force of soldiers involved in the attack. So, how had they snuck up on this village?

That was when she noticed something peculiar. Like many houses these had been constructed with thick beams which survived the fire surprisingly well. However, the one directly behind the bodies was peppered with small holes. On a hunch she took out a kunai and started to dig into the board.

A moment later she had dugout a small metal ball. It was slightly flat on one side from where it had impacted the wood. The velocity that it must've been traveling at for that to happen was impossible for a Jutsu or any other type of weapon she knew. She rolled the ball around in her hand haphazardly trying to get a feel for the object.

This had not been done by ninjas. It looked like the facility within the Land of Honey had either not been found in time or more likely had not been the only one. Of course, just about everyone had assumed that once those posters had started to go up. Still, they all thought they had more time.

Forbidden weapons they would have a longer reach then most jutsus, which was something she wasn't looking forward to. Kemurigakure had probably just been a test for them. They probably had set the fire to hide as much evidence as they could.

She suddenly jerked her head around from the corner of her eye she thought she had seen movement. That was the problem with these damn masks they played hell with your peripheral vision. "Is anyone near my position?" She spoke into the radio that was built into her mask.

Yoshi and Mina both responded with a negative. The third member was out of range. "Converge on my location were not alone." She wasn't sure what she saw, it could've been a pet that was loose or hopefully a survivor. Yoshi was now in her site and they coordinated a strategy with hand gestures.

Approaching a small building that was in slightly better condition than the rest, it was partially still standing. They approached cautiously not knowing what they would find. A small figure exploded from underneath their hiding spot. She made a grab for the kid but missed. Yoshi had better luck, scooping the kid up into a bear hug.

"Stop struggling kid I don't want to hurt you," he growled out. The boy kicked at him ineffectually and with his one free arm he tried to claw at his captors eyes. It was no use Yoshi's arms were as big as the kids head. That was until the boy bit down on his arm drawing blood. Yoshi let out a cry of pain as he dropped the child.

Before the kid could run away she managed to trip him up with some wire around his legs. The kid fell to the ground still struggling. The wire was cutting into his skin as he tried to cut it with his kunai. She wrestled the kunai away from him and pinned him to the ground and then suddenly he went limp.

He was still breathing just unconscious. "Mina get here now" she shouted into her radio.

"I'm here" the soft-spoken voice of her medic said behind her. Pushing her superior out of the way, she wasted no time and performed a medical analysis Jutsu on the child.

For the first time Yugao was able to get a good look at the child. The kid was covered in ash from head to foot and his hair was plastered to his head with sweat. She recognized the blisters that signified second-degree burns on his arms and legs. At least he had found a change of clothes. After a minute she asked "how is he?"

Mina answered without even looking away from her patient. "He is a she. Second-degree burns on her arms and legs dehydrated and obviously exhausted. She didn't lose consciousness because of any real medical reason it's out of shock. Her mind is retreating, can't really blame her."

No she couldn't. This poor girl had survived the destruction of her village somehow and probably could tell them more about what happened here than any information they could gather. "Can you wake her?"

"I could but I advise against it. She should wake up by herself. That could be in a few minutes, a few hours or even a day. It would be best if she woke up in a hospital."

She ignored her subordinates tone. Medics had some leeway when it came to the health of their patients. Another benefit of taking her advice would be she wouldn't be stuck interrogating a child something she really did look forward to. "Let's go home."

* * *

"Naruto we're supposed to be undercover! You shouldn't have told her that we're ninja's and why did you tell her we would bring her son home." She finished up her rant against Naruto.

"But Sakura."

She silenced him with a glare. It wasn't like she hadn't felt bad for the old woman too but damn it there were only two of them. Did Naruto even think before he made that promise?

She let out a sigh; up until they had arrived at the Curry of Life Shop she had been enjoying this simple mission. It was nice to have a break from training occasionally. It would have been better if Sasuke had been accompanying her but Naruto wasn't too bad. He could still annoy her but less so than when they were first teamed together. Maybe he had matured a little or more likely he had just grown on her.

When they had talked about Sasuke and his curse seal he had said Sasuke was strong enough to resist the snake. Still, they had both agreed to ask their sensei if there was anything they could do to help when they got back home.

First, though they would have to complete her training mission which Naruto had made considerably more difficult. He should have let her handle it. She thought as they walked along the narrow rocky path, thinking back on why they were on this little detour.

"So, this is it?" Naruto questioned his pink haired companion. The Curry Shop of Life had probably seen better days. There were weeds growing out of the roof and the next strong breeze would probably blow the building over.

"I guess," she answered a bit nervously.

"So how are we going to do this?" Naruto asked smiling over at her in complete confidence.

Her face suddenly felt very hot and she knew she was blushing. The last time she had to come up with a plan was in the Forest of Death and that hadn't gone to well. So why did he have so much confidence in her? She thought before answering. "Lee said that the people here are really nice. So, I figured we would just ask them for a sample of what they gave Lee. If that doesn't work will, just steal some during the night."

"All right then," he said stepping forward and opening the sliding door.

The inside of the shop was cleaner and more respectable than the outside. There was a small table on her left and a counter to sit at like at Ichiraku. The place was abandoned except for an old woman who was slumped dejectedly at the counter.

"Excuse me but are you open?" She asked in her most polite tone.

"Oh my, customers sit."

The old woman was suddenly full of energy. Almost instantaneously she was behind the counter and working in the kitchen banging pots around.

The two of them exchanged glances at the odd behavior before sitting at the counter. "Miss we were told about this place by a friend, his name is Lee you helped him a few weeks ago. Could we have what he had?"

"Oh my your friends of Lee, such a nice hard working boy." She sighed, "My special Curry of Life, anything for friends of Lee." With her back still turned away from Sakura she let out a soft sob and then completely broke down.

The old woman's sudden sobbing brought both of the Genin around the counter to her aid. She led the elderly woman to a nearby chair while Naruto stood back concerned but at a loss what to do. For the next several minutes all that could be heard was the repeating of "oh my, oh my" while she wiped away her tears away with a dishtowel.

"What's wrong? Sakura asked when the elderly woman had combed down.

"Oh my, oh my, it's all my fault. When I saw Lee training so hard, I told my son he should dedicate himself like Lee had and maybe he wouldn't be bullied so much. I never thought he'd run off and join the Kurosuki Clan. Their no more than a group of thugs who took over a goldmine," she let out another heart rending sob. "He is less than five miles away and I haven't heard from him since he's left. I'm so worried about him." She dabbed at her eyes again and kept muttering oh my under her breath.

She felt bad for the poor old woman but all she could think to do was to rub her back in sympathy. She wanted to help she really did but she was on a mission and what could she do anyway.

"Don't worry," Naruto said in a tone that surprised Sakura. "We'll bring your son home and all we want in return is some of the Curry of Life when we get back with him."

"Oh my, I couldn't ask you to do that they are very dangerous and you're just children."

Naruto smiled and before Sakura could stop him he said"Don't worry, we may not look it right now but where full-fledged ninjas of Konohagakure."

* * *

When Karashi had joined the Kurosuki Clan he did not expect things to turn out this way. He did not think he would be hiding among some rocks with no food, no water and a group of very determined samurai hunting him down. He wanted to run away as far as he could from this place but he couldn't. If it wasn't for Ranmaru's ability to see through solid objects they would've been killed.

Then there was Raiga the leader he could probably take care of the seven men pursuing them if he wasn't wounded in his shoulder. He didn't know much about first aid but he was pretty sure Raiga was not going to make it. It didn't help that Raiga had insisted on carrying Ranmaru until he collapsed and then he had to carry both of them to this hiding spot.

After that Ranmaru had tried to do something to help Raiga but then he collapsed. For a few minutes he had been the only one conscious in their group and he had been terrified. Then Raiga had woken up and things had gone from bad to worse.

Karashi had always thought that Raiga was a bit crazy and now he was sure. Raiga was convinced that he had done something to Ranmaru and had threatened to kill him. Fortunately, the little boy had woken up and Raiga's anger had instantly evaporated. Now they were waiting until night fall to move again. Until then they were resting and he was wishing that he never left home.

Watching as Ranmaru did another scan of the area he wondered what the world looks like through that kid's eyes and wonder how those two had meant. Why would such a strong person as Raiga choose to carry around a cripple boy like Ranmaru?

"Our pursuers are following the fake trail but, there are some other people coming up another path," Ranmaru unexpectedly said with a small smile across his face.

Fear shot through him and before he knew what he was saying he started talking without thinking. "More, more of them are coming. Why did I come here?"

"Shut up" Raiga cut him off.

Ranmaru continued with a bit of a mischievous tone "I think they're ninjas but they're not wearing any Hitai-ate." The two apparently had communicated something that went over his head because for the first time since Raiga was injured he smiled.

"New recruits," pointing his sword at Karashi he said, "Go get them take Ranmaru with you and do as he says so you won't be seen."

Karashi nodded nervously as he zipped up the bag that Ranmaru was carried in and put him on his back. Perhaps he can make a run for it.

"Karashi if you let anything happen to Ranmaru I'll have to have a funeral for you."

He understood the threat somehow Raiga had known he was thinking of making a run for it. If he abandoned the two of them here Raiga would have a funeral for him. That was the only way he could ever forgive someone who betrayed him and it didn't matter to him if the person was still alive when he buried them. He thought that was just a scare tactic he had used in the village but he was beginning to have second thoughts about that now. So he listened to everything Ranmaru told him to do.

* * *

"Hey, up here."

Naruto stopped as he heard a voice, looking up he saw a head poking out from a ledge above him. "Yeah, what do you want?" he shouted his answer back.

The guy made a hushing motion and answered, "If you're looking for the Kurosuki Clan follow me."

Naruto and Sakura exchanged a skeptical look with each other; this was a bit too easy. He shrugged and started to climb up anyway. The man darted from rock to rock in what was probably an attempt to be sneaky, but struck him as more comical. The guy looked like a cartoon burglar, he even had a big sack on his back, and all he was missing was the mask. He had to hold back laughter that was until they reached their destination.

The man they were brought to was clearly in pain. His left shoulder was wrapped with strips of his cloak and he was bleeding through the makeshift bandage. His face was beaded with sweat, but his eyes were the most disturbing thing. He stared right at him but his gaze seemed to be looking past him, like he wasn't even there. It was even more disturbing than the villager's hate felled gazes.

The teen that brought them here gently put the bag down next to the wounded man and unzipped it to reveal a little boy. His lavender hair was straggly with sweat and just short of being shoulder length.

He smiled at him and the kid smiled back looking remarkably calm considering he was being carried around in a bag.

Cautiously Sakura spoke, "can I take a look at that shoulder. I don't have much medical training but I think I can stop the bleeding."

The man waved her forward and said, "You've both been trained as ninjas, so I take it that you've come all this way in hopes of joining the Kurosuki Clan."

"Nope" Naruto answered flippantly. "We've been looking for the Kurosuki Clan, but only so we can find a guy named Karashi, his mother's been worrying about him so, we promise that we would bring her son home."

For the first time the man's eyes seemed to focus on him as he started to laugh. "Stupid, Karashi is the guy who brought you here."

The man's laughter was making him angry, Naruto never could get used to being laughed at. Instead of turning his anger on the injured man he turned to the teen that had brought him here and punched him. "How could you worry your mother like that? Don't you know she's concerned about you? She is so worried that she broke down crying because she hasn't heard from you in so long. You're coming home for a visit today and I don't care if I have to drag you there. Understand?"

"Please don't hurt me. I just wanted to get stronger for her," Karashi said from where he cowered on the ground. Naruto found it hard to stay angry at such a sad sight but he didn't like how this guy had neglected his mother.

"Naruto knock it off," Sakura shouted at him as she turned her attention back to her patient and asked in a much more sympathetic voice "how did this happen?"

Karashi was the one to blurt out the whole story from where he still cowered "we were protecting a place called Katabame Kinza Village, it's a gold mine so someone's always trying to steal from it. Yesterday we saw a group of samurai approaching the village ready for a battle so we ambushed them but they had strange weapons and where all that's left."

"Strange weapons?" Both Naruto and Sakura repeated.

"There not supposed to exist" said the wounded man who had apparently exhausted himself with laughing.

"Naruto go into my bag and get out the scroll at the bottom of it."

Hesitantly he opened her bag it felt like he was trespassing. Sometimes when on a mission your backpack would be the only privacy you could have. At least that was what Iruka sensei had told the class one day. Pushing past the extra kunai and other ninja supplies he found the scroll at the bottom of the bag beneath the anatomy book Sakura was reading. Pulling the scroll out, he unrolled it to see a series of strange circles with writings around them along with a pen and a small piece of paper.

"What is this thing," he asked her.

"If you're within the Fire Country you can summon a messenger Bird. You then can tell the bird to go to any of the hidden villages. Lady Tsunade gave it to me before we left Konoha just in case we ran into some problems," She said still working on the wounded man.

"What do you want me to do?" Naruto asked wondering where Sakura had found her confidence.

"Write down what Karashi told us. Tell them we have wounded and will be at the Curry Shop of Life" and then give me the scroll, Sakura ordered.

He remembered Iruka telling him his handwriting was unacceptable and told him he had to work on it for writing mission reports if nothing else. He regretted not taking his advice now. Handing the scroll over he watched Sakura finished putting the pressure bandage on the wounded man before giving her the scroll.

She slowly performed several hand signs, before slamming her hand down on the summoning scroll. A hawk slowly revealed itself as smoke drifted away. It flapped its wings slowly to dissipate the remaining smoke. The bird cocked its head at an odd angle and stared at Sakura with eyes that were a bit too intelligent for an animal. Naruto half expected it to say "well what do you want" like Pakkun might do. Putting the message on the bird she said, "Konohagakure" and gave it a shove.

It performed a lazy circle to gain altitude before flying off carrying their message. "So all we have to do is get to the shop and wait for help" Naruto said. He didn't like running from a fight, but the guy looked in pretty bad shape and then there was that little kid to worry about.

"They saw the bird. They're coming towards our position," the boy said calmly. His eyes were now glowing an eerie red.


	16. Chapter 16

The boy with the glowing eyes looked as if he was tracking something through the rocks, "They've split into two groups. The two with the boom sticks are trying to get above us and the others are coming straight towards us, four minutes or less."

Sakura broke out into a cold sweat as she realized that she had just given away their position, as a heavy silence dissented on the group.

"It seems they know our position thanks to you." The man's smile was disturbing and she was beginning to think something was wrong with him. Naruto tried to come to her defense. "Sakura was just trying to"

"Shut up! We don't have much time if you want to get out of this alive. After all, it is not like they will let you go now especially if you're ninjas. So either you do what I say or we will all die." The calm way the man told them this was more disturbing than the words themselves.

Naruto was the first to recover, "and why should we do what you say? After all you're the reason why were in this mess."

"Because, I was the greatest of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist," Raiga shouted as he gripped one of his swords with his good arm.

"Three minutes, maybe less," The boy added in.

"Fine, we will work with you" Sakura cut Naruto off before he could make another protest "but how do you suppose we all get out of this alive?" It was good to know that this man was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, if it was true but she would prefer that Sasuke and Kakashi were with them here instead.

Raiga struggled to a kneeling position as he started giving orders. "Ranmaru when their in range, give us some cover, you'll have to stay here. I'll take out the two with the boom sticks. You two take out the rest. What are your weapons?"

"Kunai and some shuriken," Sakura answered.

"I have some exploding notes," Naruto added sullenly.

"Standard stuff, will do your best if I can I'll help you once I'm done with those two." He glared over at Karashi, "if anything happens to Ranmaru when I'm gone, I'll kill you."

That's it she thought, Naruto could've come up with that plan. Irritated and disappointed with the man she thought back to the last battle they had with these men in the Honey country. Shiori had told her something about the samurai's armor but the problem was her friend had been more than a little out of it at the time. She closed her eyes and tuned out the noise around her. Shiori's arrows had not been strong enough to get through their strange armor but when she added an exploding tag it had killed the man.

"Naruto how many exploding tags to you have," she asked excitedly.

"Three, why you want one," he said as he looked up from where he had been attaching them all to one kunai.

"No listen, attach each of them to a kunai and then aim for the heart. Shiori told me that was how she killed the samurai in Honey." She froze once she realized what she had said. Despite all the battle she had been in she had only killed once before and that had been by accident. She wasn't sure if she could do it consciously.

"Down" Ranmaru shouted broke into her thoughts and saved her life.

Sakura hit the ground hard enough that a stone scraped a gash across her forehead. A chip had appeared in the rock she had been leaning against. This was a battle and she was trained to handle this. She would not be useless again. She wouldn't need her teammates to save her again. She would not waste all of her training, "Naruto give me the exploding tags I have better aim than you."

A thick mist poured out from beneath Ranmaru's clothing obscuring his head and limbs from view. It quickly cut visibility down to only a few feet. At first it reminded Sakura of the Hidden Mist Technique but it was thicker than Zabuza's and there wasn't any water nearby for him to use. Looking at Naruto blue shirt she noticed red particles floating in the air flickering in and out of sight. This must be another part of his kekkei genkai she thought, as another shot ricocheted off a nearby rock.

"The two aren't in range yet, the other five are retreating slowly." Ranmaru's voice was surprisingly calm.

"Where are they?" she was surprised to hear it was her voice asking the question.

"Ten and eleven o'clock the others are at seven o'clock and are falling back."

"Go now" Raiga shouted climbing to his feet.

Her training overtook her fear and she started to run towards the direction of the five approaching samurai. Ranmaru's mist while covering their advance was obscuring their targets. She could hardly see Naruto a few feet in front of her, of all the time for him not to wear orange.

"Naruto let me try to take some out with the exploding tags before you send in your clones."

"All right Sakura" he gave her a grin as she passed him.

The samurai emerged out of the mist like ghosts, appearing more demonic than human in their armor. Jumping into the air for a better angle of attack she threw the kunai. They flew straight at their targets, her academy instructors would have been proud. The first two kunai hit exploding a second after contact, the third was deflected and exploded harmlessly.

Landing she exploded towards the man that had evaded her initial attack. She could hear the reassuring sounds of Naruto's clones popping into existence behind her hopefully he could handle two for a while. She stayed low to block the first slash from his sword. Pivoting she deliver a kick that would normally have knocked loose some teeth but it didn't even seem to faze this man.

After her initial attack she was forced on the defensive. Constantly retreating to avoid slashes that would have easily cut her in half, she could no longer see Naruto but she could hear his clones popping out of existence and in the distance the periodic gunshots still rang out. Attempting to use the Body Flicker to get behind the man but it was useless he was too fast. Even when she had managed to land a hit it was ineffective. Taking another step back to avoid a particularly vicious slash she fell.

The ground rushed past her before she realized what had happened, the cliff she had forgotten about the cliff. Channeling chakra into her hands and feet she managed to stop her fall by grabbing onto the rock. Glancing down she could see the bottom was easily another seventy-five feet beneath her, looking back up she could see the man staring down at her. Unable to climb up and unwilling to climb down she was at a loss of what to do.

The man's head disappeared for a minute only to reappear with several large rocks in his arms. As he tossed them down one at a time she moved to avoid each of them but she knew that she couldn't keep this up for long. Her arms and legs began trembling with fatigue. If she climbed down to the bottom she wouldn't be able to help Naruto and if she tried to climb to the top the rocks would knock her off.

Her mind frantically thought of anything she could try and kept coming up blank. Out of desperation she prepared to do something that she had only heard of. Channeling all of her chakra into her legs she prepared to leap straight up. When the man turned to collect more rocks she made her move.

It was the highest jump she had ever made in her life and it was not enough to clear the ledge. It was enough, to get her arms over though and she was able to roll over to safety. The man was only inches away from where she came to rest. The man turned drawing his sword intending to skewer her where she had landed. With the last of her strength she grabbed the man's wrist and with the use of his own momentum in and a little leverage from her foot in his stomach flipped the man over her and down the cliff. Unfortunately, he could not manipulate his chakra.

Her legs ached with pain they felt as if the muscles had been torn apart from the inside. She laid there for a minute trying to recover from forcing too much chakra into her legs. It was her concern for Naruto and the others that forced her to climb to her feet. That was when she noticed that there were neither sounds of battle or any of that strange mist around. She gazed around in a mental fog until the voice of her irritating teammate broke through the haze. She didn't realize that she had been drawn this far away from everyone else during the battle.

"Sakura are you all right?" Naruto called out as he ran towards her. His shoulder had a gash in it and his shirt was covered in blood but it didn't seem to be bothering him so she ignored it for the moment.

"I'm okay, what happened to the mist?"

Before he could answer Karashi shouted frantically to get their attention as he ran towards them. "Raiga is hurt and Ranmaru collapsed, they need your help."

* * *

Sasuke stood fifty yards away from where Kakashi sat on a training post, both of his eyes locked on his student. Sasuke took one last deep breath trying to remember everything that Kakashi had taught him so far. Suddenly he broke into a run charging towards his sensei as if he was using the Chidori. When he was only five feet away he Body Flicker to the right a second after Kakashi called out, "right."

Coming to a stop he punched a nearby tree out of frustration, not caring for once if he looked childish. The bark didn't even make a satisfying crack, as he shouted "What was it this time?" He demanded of Kakashi.

"You began shifting your weight before you put your right foot down. I could've detected that even without using my Sharingan," Kakashi said as he covered his eye. "I am at my limit for today, so will move onto another exercise."

Damn it, this was more frustrating than the tree climbing exercise, Sasuke thought. At least then he had felt like he was making some progress, "we've hardly done anything" he said, as he walked toward Kakashi.

"Sasuke, I can't exhaust myself just for training. However, with a little training Kado could do some of these exercises longer with you. In fact I know there are several clan exercises two Sharingan users could do to improve each other's skills." Kakashi said casually.

"He froze in mid-step, remembering when he used to ask Itachi to do some of those exercises with him. Had Kakashi been trying to insult him? No it was a coincidence, he had made sure to keep his trouble with Kado to himself. There was no way Kakashi could have known that the little brat wasn't listening to him.

Being the clan's head should have been easier than this. His father had never had these types of problems with the other members of the clan. Of course, his father didn't have to deal with clan members on such an individual basis. He gritted his teeth, at some point he had lost control of his life and he didn't know how he could fix it.

This training wasn't helping his situation either. Kakashi had told him that learning more powerful jutsus would be pointless when it came to Itachi. It was the Sharingan he would have to counter, if he ever wished to get revenge. Still, he wondered about that, if he had gone with those four what would he be learning right now and was it worth giving up that opportunity for a brat who was still giving him the silent treatment.

"What's next?" He snapped at Kakashi impatient with his teachers limitations and wanting to avoid thinking about how messed up the whole Kado mess was.

"Sasuke" an unfamiliar female voice called out as she ran towards the two of them. A woman with a pig in tow was running towards them, he vaguely remembered her as the Hokage's assistant. "I'm sorry to interrupt your training but I have terrible news." She looked at him almost with sympathy something he could never tolerate from anyone let alone a stranger. "We've just received word that, Kemurigakure has been completely destroyed. There was only one survivor."

It took a minute for what she had said to register, all those people he had seen when he went to retrieve Kado were dead.Oddly the only one who could really remember was a shy girl who had run after them to give Kado one last gift. That girl was dead. For the first time since he met the kid he could truly empathize with him. To lose everyone you had known was something he was all too familiar with. He stopped those thoughts before they went down that familiar road and try to pay attention to the still ongoing conversation.

"Yes, we think there's a connection between this attack and that facility you found in the Honey country. This brings me to why I was ordered to tell Sasuke about this before it became public knowledge." The woman turned her attention on him and he suddenly had a bad feeling. "The single survivor is currently in the hospital unconscious. We would like you to bring Kado there to confirm her identity and to stay until she regains consciousness. A familiar face may calm her and make the debriefing easier."

"Fine, when do you want me to bring him there?" He felt oddly disconnected, trying to suppress memories of his first trip to the hospital.

"As soon as possible, I'm sure you can get out of training for the day" she said, giving Kakashi a look that meant he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Even without looking Sasuke knew that Kakashi was smiling with his eye as he said, "I'll escort him to the academy right away."

"I don't need an escort!" He knew that his protest was futile, ever since he had reported the Sound Four incursion he had a surreptitious guard around him, which Kakashi was a part of.

* * *

Taking Kado out of class was simple enough Iruka had almost seemed relieved to learn that Sasuke would be taking the youngest Uchiha out for the day. The brat was less thrilled with the arrangement. The boy had reluctantly and silently followed him to a secluded spot in the park. Kakashi fell back far enough not to be noticed leaving Sasuke with enough privacy to break the news to Kado. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that the kid still wasn't talking to him.

Kado stood there glaring at him with his arms crossed and all the intensity that a nine-year-old could muster. Which was fine with him, he wouldn't admit it to anyone but he would prefer not to be the person to break the news to him. He also didn't want others to know how bad their relationship had become.

"So, why did you pull me out of class?"

The kids tone was disrespectful but he was willing to let it go this one time considering the news he was about to give him. "Kado, Kemurigakure has been destroyed."

* * *

Katsuro stared out of a window, watching the monsoon lash at Kumogakure as if the storm was punishing the village for the countless lives that it had taken. This scene was a familiar one to him, he had hoped that he would not be brought here again but the past could not or would not let him go. Watching the miniature rivers flow down the glass, he dreading the conversation he was about to have. She finally spoke with all the hatred and venom he had come to expect from her in these dreams.

"Look at you, Ambassador to Konoha and next in line to be the Raikage. It's hard to believe that a few years ago you were a little snot nosed brat who would always follow me around like a lost puppy.

Katsuro reluctantly turned and glared up at his older sister before snapping back, "Shut up."

With all the speed and grace that had made her one of Kumo's best assassins a kunai was at his throat. "Don't take that tone with me. After all, I'm the reason why you're so famous," She hissed out, inches away from his face.

"I never wanted to be known for killing you," their eyes met, his eyes pleading for forgiveness while hers were filled with pure hatred.

"A little late for growing a conscience, don't you think?" She spun away from him and continued in a casual tone her back turned to him. "It would've been nice if you had one of those before you put five thousand volts through my body" she turned and her expressions soften as she smiled, "don't you think?"

"There wasn't any way I could've known it was you," his tone pleading.

"Like hell there wasn't," her expression twisted into one of pure hate, "how many people do you think know the extent of the caves beneath Kumo? You and I were probably the only people familiar with that part of the cave system. Even your ANBU team fell behind and none of that struck you as suspicious? You knew it was me and you murdered me."

He cast his eyes down thinking back to that night. The discovery of missing documents had roused almost the entire village to action, himself no exception. A dead guard had led them into the labyrinth that existed under Kumo. His team had picked up the trail which led them deep into the caverns. At the time he had thought it was fortunate that he and his older sister used to play down here before they had drifted apart. Unlike the rest of his team he instinctively knew which paths were dead ends and which ones would lead to an exit.

His eyes quickly grew accustomed to the lowlight admitted by the phosphoresce bacteria on the walls and the loose rocks had not been a problem for him. Soon he saw the fleeing figure and he started preparing one of his original jutsu.

The kunai had grown hot in his hand as he slowly closed in for the kill. At the last moment his target turned drawing her sword in an attempt to cut him down, a classic assassin's technique. His kunai sliced through the blade and into her shoulder delivering the pent up electrical charge that had been building in his chakra system.

The severed part of the sword flew backwards and sliced through his mask lodging itself into his cheekbone. Several minutes later the rest of his team had caught up and he was taken to the hospital. When he had come out of surgery he learned that he had just killed his sister.

He raised his eyes to meet his sister's gaze again and asked the question he desperately wanted an answer to, "why did you betray the village?"

His eyes shot open as he jerked forward the scroll that he had been reading falling to the floor. Remembering where he was he rested his head in his hands. So much for the theory that you couldn't dream while sitting up, he thought bitterly. For over a year the nightmares had stopped but ever since he had arrived in Konoha they had been coming back.

After he had killed his sister the village had investigated the why behind her actions. Months later, few answers had been discovered. She had recently slipped into a deep depression probably caused by one too many assassinations.

Others in her positions would have requested a transfer or would have just gone missing. Instead his sister had taken documents that had insured the village would hunt her down. The theory was it had been a bizarre suicide but he didn't believe it. If it had not been him that night who had picked up her trail, she would of made it out of the caves and probably would've met whoever she intended to meet.

It was not her betrayal itself, which gave him the nightmares. It was the fact that he had killed her but nobody thought he'd done the wrong thing. On the contrary he had become a hero to the village, the perfect ninja who would put village above all else, including family. There was not a single person who would say he was a monster or inhuman and that made it all the harder on him.

Tap tap, Katsuro was pulled out of his melancholic thoughts as his attention was drawn to the window. A messenger bird perched itself on the narrow windowsill impatiently waiting to be let in and relieved of its burden. While technically Kumo and Konoha had agreed to share information until this current crisis was resolved, this didn't mean that they really trusted each other. So, the birds from Kumo came directly to him instead of Konoha's loft.

He opened the window and the bird hopped in and started devouring the prepared food almost before he could get the message off it. He deactivated the relatively simple self-destruct trap and began translating the message. It was an old ANBU code just in case Konoha had any ideas of trying to crack their current one. The first part of the message was strange; it berated him for not replying to their previous query that was sent two days ago. He had not received any messages from home for over a week. The second part of the message made him forget about that detail.

_Two days ago at approximately 3:50am four ships__ with the distinct characteristics of The Land of Red Beans fishing fleet were cited off the shore of Kirigakure. These ships then proceeded to attack Kirigakure__ by using the forbidden weapon known __as __cannon.__ The ships fled when the Mizukage himself entered the battle destroying one of the ships. __Casualties were light__ but__ structural__damage__ was__ heavy. __No prisoners were taken._

_We request __that Konoha__ asked their allies in Suna__ to send a team in__to Red Beans to investigate if it is the center of the recent troubles. We have made this request of our allies in Iwa and will be sending our own team__ as well_

Kirigakure had been attacked. It seemed incredible and to make it even more astounding it had only been able to destroy one of the attacking ships. They were probably lying about the casualties, no hidden village would ever admit to weakness. Like Konoha they would hide their true casualties. Everyone would know they were weakened but by how much would be a question that probably couldn't be answered.

Even after the few weeks he had spent in Konoha he had been unable to get a sense of their strength. Granted they were being extremely cautious giving him lavish quarters on the outskirts of the town and keeping him under watch. When he did have a meeting to attend he was rushed through the streets.

This hadn't prevented him from gathering at least a little information though. Apparently there was a bit of a schism between the Hokage and the advisory Council and possibly something of even greater importance for Kumo was that there might be another surviving Uchiha. Hopefully, that last piece of information was just a plant, it would be better for Kumo if that line died out.

He shook his head to clear the extraneous thoughts. Red Bean might be behind all the recent trouble, the posters and the forbidden weapons. If that was the case, all hell was about to descend on that country. The only problem was if they were attacking them openly, they would be prepared for it.

He was about to go and demand a meeting with the Hokage before he stopped himself. There was supposed to be a big meeting with all the Jonin of Konoha in about two hours and he was supposed to attend it. If he delivered this message at the meeting, it would reflect badly on his decision-making skills as a diplomat. Maybe enough so that he would be recalled home and someone else sent instead. Hopefully, that would get the ridiculous idea out of the Raikage's head that he could be his successor. He stared down at the message, it could wait two hours.


	17. Chapter 17

Sasuke leaned back in his chair as he rested an ice pack against the back of his head. He didn't like to admit it but the kid had caught him off guard. When he had broken the news to Kado he had expected tears while hoping for quiet acceptance. He had not expected for the kid to activate his Sharingan or for him to be able to knock him to the ground.

He had cracked his head on the cement path, which had allowed Kado to get a few punches in before he had been able to throw the kid off. It had been more of an automatic reaction then conscious thought and when he had seen the tears in Kado's eyes he had thought he might really have hurt him. That was until Kado had shouted in his childish voice. "Why do you hate me? Why?"

Those words seemed to echo around in his head hurting him in a way that he didn't understand. It had seemed an eternity before Kakashi had appeared between the two of them but it must've been seconds. The need to run had gripped him. He was eight again and was running away, out of fear and the need to get away from his failure.

He was a failure that was the only way to sum up his life. He had never been good enough for his father, he had not been able to kill Itachi and now he couldn't even maintain this shell of a clan. At this rate Naruto would achieve his goals before he did he thought bitterly.

The sudden knocking at his door broke into his thoughts tossing the ice bag into his kitchen sink. He was pretty sure who it was and he had no interest in talking to him right now. Unfortunately, it wasn't like a lock could keep out a determined Jonin. A moment later he could hear the sound of the lock being picked. "You're breaking and entering," it was a lame attempt to avoid whatever was coming but he was too tired even to raise his voice.

"I'm guarding you."

Kakashi had come into his peripheral vision, his nose buried in his familiar orange book. The lack of eye contact made it easier for Sasuke to ask a question, "How'd it go?" The tabletop suddenly became very interesting.

"It took him a few minutes to calm down but he knows you weren't lying to him." Kakashi paused to turn a page. "He's going to stay there overnight, even if she wakes up."

It was an effort to force words past the knot in his throat he asked the first question that came to mind fearing where this was going. "Does he know who they are?"

"They're about the same age and considering the size of the village it's likely but I didn't ask." Kakashi paused again and this time it seemed to stretch out into eternity as Sasuke frantically sought around for something anything to say to delay the inevitable catastrophe that he felt was coming. "Considering everything, perhaps Kado should be treated as just like another orphan."

"He is an Uchiha, my responsibility." His anger gave him enough courage to stand and glare at Kakashi. It wasn't that this failure would be public or even that it would prove Itachi right but he would have let down every one of his ancestors. The fall of Uchiha clan would not come from the outside but from his inability to handle a nine year old, which was something that even Naruto could handle.

Kakashi held his gaze for a moment before his eye drifted over to the couch where a pillow and Kado's blanket were heaped in an untidy pile. "The theory behind making the clan head legally responsible for orphan members of the clan is to prevent techniques from being lost. Considering the way you've been treating him you don't seem interested in keeping that traditional."

Sasuke face flushed with embarrassment. Having Kado sleep on the couch was meant to be a temporary thing. He had intended to move back to the Uchiha district now that there was a clan to occupy it. "I'm planning on moving."

"Uh-huh"

"He doesn't mind"

"I see"

"It's not like I wanted any of this."

"You wanted to rebuild your clan."

"Not like this, he won't even listen to me."

"Why should he? He only met you a few weeks ago."

"Because, I am the clan's head," his shout echoed in the enclosed room.

"Does Kado know what that means? After all, the only real thing he knows about his heritage is what you've told him." Sasuke whence was barely visible but Kakashi picked up on, "You have told him about your clan right?"

Sasuke tried to speak but the words were caught in his throat. He looked down at the table and muttered "I can't."

There was a long silence before it was broken by Kakashi. "My replacement is here," he nodded to a figure on the opposing rooftop. "There's a meeting I have to attend. Try to remember what we were told at the village but, if you keep going down this path you may end up losing everything." With that cryptic phrase Kakashi left Sasuke to ponder his problem, who didn't hear the door close.

It took a minute for Sasuke to realize what he was talking about something the village leader had said, 'Give him a family,' he had never thought about the difference between clan and family. His father had been far more indulgent with both himself and even Itachi then he had been with any other child of the clan. If that was what the kid wanted well, he didn't know how to deal with that.

To go down in history as the Uchiha who divided the clan or worse the last leader was not acceptable. At first it was simple, Kado would ask a question about the Sharingan and he would answer. Then Kado had started asking about their family. He had tried to ignore those questions, how do you tell someone that you looked up to and admired was the person that slaughtered your entire family?

Suddenly feeling the need to do something he started cleaning up Kado's mess. As he folded the kid's blanket he wondered why Kado was so attached to it. The first night they had spent in this apartment he had given him an extra blanket to replace the old and dirty one, he hadn't used it. This would be the first night he would be spending without it. Perhaps he could use this as an excuse and possibly save his clan. He tucked the blanket under his arm and headed for the hospital.

* * *

As he left the apartment Kakashi wondered if giving Sasuke another chance was the right thing to do. While it would be best to keep the Uchiha clan together, it wouldn't be the first clan to dissolve and he was sure that would be what would happen if Kado moved out. As a sensei it wasn't really his concern what happened to the Uchiha clan but he cared about his students and wanted them to succeed. 

In that aspect he was failing Sasuke. He had tried to persuade him away from revenge and for a while he thought he had succeeded. Then he had seen Itachi again and it had rekindled his need for revenge. Fortunately, Kado had miraculously appeared and he had hoped that his loyalty to the living would outweigh that of the dead. So far he had been disappointed.

He hoped that Sasuke would snap himself out of this funk. He had friends that cared about him and even a family of sorts. It would be a shame if he lost it all before he realized what he had. Still, if he didn't improve his relationship with Kado he would suggest that Kado be removed. After all, there was no reason to destroy both of their lives in the pointless search for revenge.

* * *

Sasuke did not like Konoha hospital. It wasn't just the smell of disinfectant or even the bright lights. It was the memories this place held for him. In one of these rooms he had accepted his family's death. In another room he had woken up from what had seemed like an eternity of watching his family die again and again. Then there was that curse seal incident and that bastard in Tea country which had earned him another visit. 

As it turns out he did not like the hospital any more when he was just a visitor. After being bounced around he had been finally directed to a private room. Now that he was here he didn't know what to do. Sparing a glance over at the patient he felt a pain of sympathy for her. Her arms and legs were wrapped in loose gauze and an IV was inserted into her neck.

Kado was in an overstuffed chair by the bed, hugging his knees to his chest and intensely staring at the girl. They were less than ten feet away but to Sasuke it was a very long walk. He dropped the blanket on Kado which earned him an angry glare. "You could be here for awhile so I thought you might like this." The kid muttered something like thank you as he wrapped it around himself, but Sasuke wasn't sure. Then one of the uncomfortable silences they both had come to dread fell upon them.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have hit you." Kado spoke slowly not taking his eyes off of the girl.

"You took the news better than I did when I learned about my family." This wasn't true, the two situations weren't similar but it sounded like the right thing to say. "I was younger than you when that happened but I didn't have a friend to help me through it." This was the first time he had referenced the massacre and it wasn't easy for him. So, when Kado started laughing he nearly stormed off.

"Me and Hoshiko aren't friends. She hates me and I don't like her. She's broken my nose twice." He held up two fingers to emphasize his point. "O and that was really lame," he smiled up at Sasuke.

Sasuke forced a smile and made a mental note to talk to Naruto, there had to be a secret to talking to little kids. "Was there a reason you two didn't get along?" He asked as he sat down on the arm of the chair.

Kado shot him a suspicious look before answering. "Her mom was our sensei. Sometimes after class she would teach me something and she would teach Hoshiko the same thing but I always got it faster than she did and Hoshiko couldn't stand it."

This time it was a real smirk that crossed Sasuke's face. Kado was a true Uchiha even if he hadn't been born in Konoha clan. Uchiha's were always the best, then he thought of Naruto and the time he fought that Sand ninja. Soon he was lost in his own thoughts and the longest conversation they had in days died.

"They're really all dead aren't they?"

It took him a minute to realize what Kado was talking about and then all he could do was grunt in acknowledgment.

"Shouldn't I feel something? I mean, when you told me I was angry because I thought you were lying but when I saw Hoshiko here I knew it was true but it doesn't feel true." His voice started to choke up and Sasuke put an awkward arm around him, in an imitation of what he had seen others do.

"It will take a while." For the first time the silence between the two of them wasn't uncomfortable, they had become companions in misery. Hearing soft sobbing he looked down at Kado who had buried his head in his knees. He resisted the urge to remind Kado that ninjas did not show their emotions. After all, he wasn't a ninja yet and it wasn't like he had been any better.

"I'm tired."

"Go to sleep then, I'll wake you if she comes around." Kado leaned into him and at first Sasuke almost pulled away but after a minute, he almost found it comfortable.

* * *

"How bad is Raiga hurt?" 

"I don't know," Karashi seemed more nervous as he got closer to them. "Ranmaru told me that the battle was over and he wanted to be taken where Raiga was. When I first saw him, I thought he was dead but Ranmaru held his hand for a minute and then he collapsed and Raiga woke up. He told me to get you two."

Naruto watched Sakura take a few shaky steps forward. Despite what she had told him, she didn't seem to be okay. Her legs suddenly gave out and he darted forward to catch her. "Forget about him Sakura, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm fine Naruto I just over did it, come on we have to help them. Hey, put me down your shoulder is hurt."

Naruto adjusted Sakura on his back. It was a bit awkward since she was taller than him but she hadn't hit him yet so she couldn't be feeling too good. "It's not that bad and this will be faster." He started darting up the hill to where he thought they were. Between the mist and the battle he had become a little disoriented but he was pretty sure where they were he could still smell the gunpowder. That and Sakura, she sure did smell nice.

"Over there," Sakura pointed to an odd lump in the distance.

"Right," he didn't really care about Raiga, the guy crept him out. Besides if he really was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist that meant he had known Zabuza and that Kisame guy in meeting those two was not good. Ranmaru on the other hand reminded him of Haku and he didn't want another tragedy.

But as he got closer he thought something was wrong, they were too still. "Sakura..."

"We're too late." Sakura finished his thought.

Raiga was slumped forward holding Ranmaru in his arms. They seem to be supporting each other and Naruto regretted what he had been thinking about Raiga. The scene almost looked picture perfect if it wasn't for the small hole in his chest and the copious amounts of blood he would've thought they were father and son, maybe they had been. The odd thing was Raiga's new chest wound look partially healed and there didn't seem to be a reason for Ranmaru's collapse.

Reluctantly, he let Sakura down and stood back as she approached the scene. She felt for a pulse on Raiga's neck and shook her head moving on to Ranmaru. "He's alive!"

Naruto rushed forward helping Sakura to untangle the two, his hand brushed up against Ranmaru. "Sakura, I think he has a fever."

"I know" she snapped back. "It's high I didn't even think he was even sick before. Tell Karashi to hurry up. Will take Ranmaru to the Curry Shop, at least he'll be out of the sun."

Naruto turned to do what he was told when he saw Raiga's body. "What about him?" He hadn't liked Raiga but it didn't seem right to just leave him here.

"There's nothing we can do for him and we don't have the time to bury him right now. Besides it will be hard enough to get to the Curry Shop as it is."

Naruto nodded, Sakura was right. He turned and jumped onto a nearby rock and shouted at Karashi who was still stirring towards them. "Oi, hurry it up," he watched the older teen struggle towards them. The uneven ground was slowing him down. A smile crossed his face as he thought of the solution to their problem.

The fight with the two samurai had been exhausting but besides his shoulder he was already feeling fine. Summoning several clones he sent one down to carry Karashi the rest would carry Raiga and Ranmaru and he could carry Sakura again.

* * *

Sancho had been waiting outside of her shop and was shocked to see a three Naruto's carrying everyone back. She didn't return his enthusiastic greeting but she did hug her son and then hit him with her wooden spoon for worrying her. They made a makeshift bed for Ranmaru and Sakura applied a cold compress before treating his shoulder. 

Sancho gave him one of her son's old shirts to replace his torn and bloody one. He was feeling pretty good but everyone else seemed too depressing in the room so he tried to start a conversation. "Sancho how's your curry of life coming?"

"Is that what you're making mother? It doesn't smell right I think you mixed up the spices." Karashi went over to the simmering pot and tasted it. "You forgot two ingredients," he started pouring in different things.

"Are you saying you know my curry of life recipe better than I do? Let me have a taste." She pushed her son out of the way and soon they were arguing over what ingredients were supposed to be added.

He heard a stifled giggle and turned to see Sakura try to hold back her laughter. Kneeling down next to her he quietly asked "How's Ranmaru doing?"

Sakura shook her head, "I don't know. Tsunade has only given me some chakra controlling exercises and a lot of first aid books to read. There really isn't much I can do for him. I don't even know what's wrong with him. I mean it almost looks like chakra exhaustion but then why the fever." She frowned down at her patient and changed the compress.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I don't think so. We just have to wait for his fever to break."

"I'm going to bury Raiga then." She nodded and he left, leaving the mother and son still working and arguing over the curry. He walked into the woods where his clones were still guarding the body. Sakura had thought it would be best if Sancho didn't see it and he hadn't argued. He picked a spot that was out of sight of the shop and near a stream to bury him. He had his clones do all the digging with whatever they could.

He didn't know how this was supposed to be done. Kakashi had handled Zabuza's and Haku burials and the Third Hokage funeral had been made more of a ceremony. So, he had the clones dig until their heads disappeared and put the body in and have them fill a whole backup. The quiet was making him uneasy. He went to the stream to collects some rocks for a grave marker. By the time he came back the clones were almost done. He had a clone stick Raiga's swords in the ground and then he put the rocks at the head of the grave.

Dispelling the clones was odd. He had never had them exists that long before and there memory were a bit overwhelming. On his way back to the shop he reflected that it was the weirdest thirty minutes of his life. He tried to smile but his heart wasn't in it. Well at least he felt he had done the right thing.

* * *

Sakura had never eaten anything that was black and boiling before but Karashi seemed to be enjoying it and Naruto had proclaimed it was almost as good as ramen. She really didn't have to eat it anymore After hearing an abbreviated and censored version of their trip to get her son, Sancho had not only filled her little thermos but had given her a copy of the recipe. Still, the two of them had worked so hard on it and if this could be used as a medicine it might make her legs feel better. 

Hesitantly she took a spoonful of the Curry of Life and swallowed it. Her mouth felt as it was on fire and she knew her face was probably turning her head. Quickly down the glass of water that had been brought with the curry and that provided some relief. A minute later she noticed her legs didn't hurt so much and she wasn't as tired. The speed was rather amazing and she suddenly had the hope that this might help Konoha.

"I think that little boy is waking up," Sancho pointed over Sakura's shoulder.

Spinning on her stool she saw Ranmaru staring back at her. She moved to his side and felt his forehead, "it looks like you're fever broke."

"Are you hungry? This stuff is pretty good and it will make you feel better." Naruto had followed her over with a dish of the curry.

"Where's Raiga?" His eyes glowed red as he activated his Kekkei Genkai as he looked around for his friend.

Naruto and Sakura exchange glances neither wanted to be the one to tell him. She lost, "Ranmaru, Raiga died during the battle. I'm sorry there wasn't anything we could do."

"No, I gave him my chakra, he wouldn't leave me."

His tone held no panic he was just simply stating a fact and it tore at her heart. In the analytical part of her mind she wondered, if this giving chakra thing was part of his Kekkei Genkai. She knew little about Kekkei Genkais but normally there were narrow in scope.

"I'm sorry Ranmaru, but I buried him while you were sleeping." Naruto said softly as he put his hand on Ranmaru shoulder.

"You had a funeral for him? Can I go there?"

"Eat first then I'll take you there," He smiled and held out the plate of curry.

"Naruto, maybe that isn't the" before she could get her objection out he had snatched the plate from his hand and was devouring it like Naruto did with ramen. He put his plate down and held his arms up to be carried.

"Sakura, do you want to come with us?"

"All right," she really didn't want to but the message gets sent to Konoha should've arrived there by now and they would be sending out a team to aid them. She really didn't want to be alone when they arrived. The situation had changed and she may have been a bit premature in asking for their help in the first place. Of course, the situation changed from when they first had sent a message but she would prefer if Naruto was there to help explain it and maybe take a little of the heat.

Following Naruto to the dark woods, she wondered what was going to happen to Ranmaru. Konoha might have accepted him into their training program with his background but he couldn't walk so he could never become a ninja. Leaving him here with Sancho would be an imposition. Perhaps the Fire country had a system to take care of people like Ranmaru. It made her uneasy that she didn't know what was going to become of him.

It wasn't long walked but her legs started to hurt. Apparently the little amount of curry she had eaten couldn't fix everything. So lost in thoughts she almost collided with Naruto when he stopped. Even in the dark she could tell the ground had been recently disturbed here. Watching Naruto put Ranmaru on the ground, she wondered if it was the right thing to let Ranmaru come here.

"I lived in a small village in the Land of Water. I didn't know my parents and couldn't leave my hut because I was too sick to walk far. The villagers used to bring me food but I was always sad. Then one day I discovered this ability to look through my walls. I couldn't see far, but for the first time I saw the outside world. The villagers found out about it and soon the food stop coming and they started throwing stones instead. I was alone. I wanted to die.

"One day, a group of hunter-nins came to the village. I watched as they killed everyone and I thought I was going to die, I didn't mind. One of them was crying the entire time and when he came to my hut I thought he was sadder than I was. I told him we were alike. For us living was painful and if my death would help him it was alright. From that day Raiga and I were inseparable. I became his eyes and he was my legs.

"He took me on all his missions and I saw so many things. Once we spent the entire day watching the cherry blossoms fall and another time we were caught in a blizzard. I could never even imagine such things before. We would sit on the banks of streams and rivers drinking tea and watching the water flow by together. He always said we would always be together, what I'm I supposed to do now? I just want to die."

Sakura didn't know what to make of his story. Kakashi had told them that those with Kekkei Genkai were sometimes hated but she never thought that an entire village could turn against a child. When Ranmaru had talked about his life in the village he had been emotionless but when he had talked about Raiga he seemed happy. It didn't make sense, at first she thought Raiga had been crazy but he had seem to care about Ranmaru. Part of her wanted to comfort him and tell him that everything would be okay but she would just be lying to him.

"When I was young people hated me to and I didn't know why. Eventually, I found people who cared. When one of them died I asked why people would risk their lives for others. Somebody who is very important to me said it was because of the bonds we form with people. These bonds become very important even beyond reason.

"I think Raiga cared about you and he wouldn't want you to die. You need to live for both of you. Eventually, I know you'll find others who care about you. Until then I'll be your legs. We will go back to Konoha. There's this old woman there who can heal anyone. Maybe you can become a ninja and then you can see everything."

Sakura wish she had stopped Naruto but she didn't think he would promise Ranmaru the impossible. Did the idiot even think before he said something? The two were smiling at each other and she didn't have the heart to destroy his fantasy right now.

They stood there for a long time until Ranmaru broke the silence. "My legs feel funny."

"What do you mean?" She tried to keep the worry of her voice not knowing what else could be wrong with them.

"They feel different." He stared down at his legs for a moment and then without warning he tried to stand. He fell but before either of them could get to his side he rolled towards a tree and used it to climb to his feet. From there he took several shaky steps towards them. It wasn't much but he smiled the entire time.

"Sakura did the curry do this?" Naruto was almost as excited as Ranmaru was.

"I don't know," she thought back on how she had felt after eating the curry. Invigorated was the best word. She smiled and joins in the celebration this could be a breakthrough not only for Ranmaru but Konoha. None of them notice that they were surrounded until a polite cough came from behind.

"Well it doesn't seem like you need help."

Sakura turned around and easily spotted at least seven ANBU masks and the familiar face of her sensei. She wanted to say the situation had changed and she was sorry for worrying everyone but it just didn't seem adequate. This was going to show up badly on her record.

"Kakashi sensei, what took you so long?" Naruto exclaimed still smiling.

"At first it was thought that the message was in code. Then we realized, you just have bad hand writing. So, what happened?"

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat and began. "We were able to obtain a sample of the curry but in the process we learned that her son had run away. Deciding to help" she sent a glare over at Naruto, "we went to a nearby village named Katabami Kinzan. When we were halfway there we were intercepted by a wounded man named Raiga. He was being pursued by men with two muskets. Considering the situation we had to help and sent the message you received. Unfortunately, that gave away our position and we were forced into battle. Reiko who was already wounded died during the battle." She hoped that she had sounded more composed than she was feeling right now.

"So you defeated everyone?"

"No, they didn't." Ranmaru spoke from his position on the ground, "originally there were thirty-five men but only seven pursued Raiga. The rest went on to the village."

"Who are you and how do you know this?" The question was snapped out by one of the masked ninja.

Sakura grabbed Naruto as he tried to take a step towards the man. "Ranmaru was with Raiga the entire time, he saw everything," she answered the question for him.

"All right, Yamato, Izuho take your teams to Katabami Kinzan. Observations only, do not engage do not be seen. I will be taking my team back to Konoha."

"What about Ranmaru? He has no place else to go and he helped us fight, we just can't leave him here." Naruto crossed his arms showing he wasn't going anywhere without Ranmaru.

"Fine, if he saw everything will want to talk to him to."

For some reason Sakura thought that her sensei was just trying to get them out of here and would've said anything to get Naruto moving. Still, Naruto's words hit home, if it wasn't for Ranmaru's mist cover they may not have made it. In a way she was indebted to him and getting him to Konoha was probably the least she could do.


	18. Chapter 18

The poor woman in front of Tsunade was clearly nervous. It was rare that the head of the Reverse Engineering department had to attend a meeting with anyone let alone the Hokage. The department never had command much respect and it probably wasn't helping the woman's confidence that she was only a Chunin in a room of Jonin or higher.

Normally, the department worked on reverse engineering enemy jutsus or weapons. They were also the closest thing that Konoha had to experts when it came to forbidden weapons so, sending some of them Kemurigakure had been an easy decision.

"And that is how I think the attack played out on Kemurigakure." The woman smiled clearly hoping she wouldn't be asked questions.

Tsunade smiled trying to put the woman at ease. "Why do you believe they attacked at night? Normally that's an advantage for ninjas."

"Oh, that's right I forgot," she smiled nervously and rooted around in her pockets before pulling out a cylindrical metal tube. "They use these. They're like our star shells only there's more magnesium in them and their fired into the air not thrown." The woman was about to sit down when Ibiki coughed.

"One more thing" the woman shot back up" in examining the village we found several clusters of dead, as if they all were killed at once. This would've been a mystery if it wasn't for the other attack but I believe Morino should sum that up," she quickly retreated to her chair and tried her hardest to become invisible.

She smiled pitying the woman, "one question, if the country of Red Beans is behind this. How many of these weapons do you think they could have produce by now?"

The woman hesitated before answering. "That's hard to say. My department has only looked at two examples of the muskets. They look pretty simple to make, if you're used to working with metal. Since Red Beans is famous for its bells it would depend on how many foundries are working on them and for how long. It could be anywhere between hundreds to thousands. I couldn't tell you anything about the cannons though."

That had not been what she wanted to hear. The numbers were unsettling particularly when one considers there were a lot more samurai then ninjas in the world. The bright side was that a lot of those samurai were just thugs with swords. Still even a couple hundred could be deadly if used properly after all that's why they were forbidden.

"What about their armor?" Koharu Utatane who was representing the advisory council spoke up.

"That's a bit complicated. It's a synthetic fiber that is extraordinary strong, it probably shouldn't exist."

"When you're done with the muskets make sure to destroy them in front of the Kumo ambassador."

Tsunade resisted the urge to glare at the old woman, she had just overstepped her bounds but the Third probably would have allowed it so, she couldn't argue the point right now. Apparently, the advisory council would not go quietly into the night, like she would have preferred. Before the old woman could move the meeting forward she nodded to Ibiki, "what have your interrogations found?"

Ibiki stood as he began his report. "First the boy Ranmaru has been a source of an extraordinary amount of information, even more so than the two Genin. Due to his Kekkei Genkai he was used as the lookout for that gang. He was the first to spot the group of thirty-five samurai approaching once he reported this to Raiga, the gang then moved to intercept.

"Apparently, this wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. They split into two groups intending to meet in the middle. They used Kuro Tatsumaki which requires several people to sit on each other shoulders and spin rapidly creating a tornado like affect that is devastating to anything in its path. According to the ANBU report the terrain favors the defenders. So, this tactic should've worked.

"Unfortunately for them, both the front and rear had a weapon that Ranmaru described as a large boom stick which is his word for muskets. Apparently, it is capable of firing multiple projectiles at a short distance it killed the attacking men instantly. This probably explains the clusters of dead."

"What does the girl that survived the massacre at Kemurigakure say about it?" The old woman interrupted Ibiki's report.

Ibiki looked over at Tsunade for permission, she nodded. "She claims that she was doing survival training at the time that the village was attack. She heard loud explosions and ran back but by the time she got there the village was in flames. I do believe that she is keeping something from us…"

"Why have you not extracted this information from her then? Or is a mere child frustrating your efforts." The old woman demanded again.

Ibiki carried on as if she hadn't spoken and Tsunade respect went up for him another notch. "But I believe it is of a private matter to her. We listened in on her conversations with Kado she hasn't told him anything that she hasn't told us. I could easily break her, but in her current state, I couldn't put her back together."

So, Ibiki still had a soul. That was comforting to know, Tsunade thought. "I concur with your opinion."

"Lady Tsunade, considering the situation we need all the possible information that we can obtain. Even if she was from the Leaf withholding any information at this point could put all the hidden villages in danger." Koharu gave her a contemptuous look that she remembered receiving as a Genin under Sarutobi.

It took a minute to put her childish fears of this woman behind her. "The decision has been made." Trying not to squirm under the old woman's gaze she addressed everyone else, "if there's nothing else dismissed." The room quickly emptied but Koharu stayed behind the silence was uncomfortable.

Both of the elderly Kunoichi stared at each other neither wanting to be the first to speak. Tsunade broke first, "is there something you wish to add adviser." It was both a question and not a question.

"The Third your sensei was never too proud to admit when he needed help. Apparently, he did not pass that ability on to his students. Perhaps the advisory council made a mistake in choosing you as his successor."

Tsunade smile, "a Hokage serves until they are either dead or stepped down no matter what you may think of them. And remember to refer to me as Hokage or the Fifth when you address me." The old woman left without another word.

She collapsed into a chair exhausted from her encounter. "Tsunade?" Shizune who has stayed quiet throughout the entire meeting spoke up. "Perhaps you should hold truth with the advisory council for now, at least until things settle down."

Tsunade sighed wondering if she should answer that. "I had a rather interesting talk with the Kumo ambassador after he delivered his message. He pointed out that both Konoha and Kumo had an allied attack and we can't allow that to go unpunished. This is especially true for us, since our security arrangement relies heavily on many of the small hidden villages such as, Waterfall, Star and others.

"He also said that it was unlikely that one of the five great nations could deal with this problem themselves and even if they did their casualties would be so high it would disrupt the power balance on the continent. This might have already happened with the Mist but fortunately they've always been a bit isolationist."

"What does this have to do with your problem with the advisory council?" Shizune asked confused.

"Simple, all five great villages must work together. If we don't the best case scenario will be another great ninja war and the worst" she trailed off allowing Shizune to come to her own conclusions.

"It will occur to the advisory council, that if we sit this out other villages will deal with it but their casualties will be high. Considering our current state, this wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing but it would also show that when push came to shove Konoha isn't reliable."

"I see," the younger woman nodded.

"I need a drink, Where's my sake?"

"Well, I suppose you've earned it. One drink and then back to work."

Shizune was far too cheerful for this early in the morning, Tsunade thought. Excepting the offered sakazuki she held the saucer like cup wondering if she should fill in Shizune fully. After the Kumo ambassador had informed every Jonin about the attack on the Mist during her first full Jonin meeting, she'd wanted to tear his head off.

In fact she had intended to send him packing that night but the man had started talking about the current situation. The man was completely inept when it came to timing but he had a good mind. It had been his suggestion for the coalition but she wondered how effective he had been in selling the idea.

* * *

Naruto never thought he would be bored with reciting one of his battle stories, but after repeating one for a week, he was. It wouldn't have been so bad if he had been allowed to embellish a little, but everyone had only been interested in the facts and details he could hardly remember. It was the strangest debriefing he had ever experienced.

That reminded him the Konohamaru core would probably want to hear the story too. Normally, he liked telling them about his battles, excluding the one with Gaara. For awhile he would have their undivided attention and he liked that. Maybe he could tell them about the Honey Country mission instead, now that it had been declassified. His face twisted into a grimace. That had been the beginning of all the recent trouble.

"Are you all right Naruto?"

Naruto looked down at Ranmaru who was resting on a bench, "I'm fine. You ready to go?"

The boy nodded and slowly stood so they could continue on their way. This was actually the first time he had seen Ranmaru since he was brought to Konoha and it had been by accident.

He had come to the hospital looking for Sakura. She was supposed to be done with her physical therapy and he had wanted to walk her home, but like everything else in Konoha they weren't running on schedule. Sakura had told him to be helpful and take Ranmaru back to his room to help out the nurses and then go train or something.

It wasn't like he hadn't spent most of the day training, but between the heavy rain and Kakashi sensei canceling the team meetings until further notice, there wasn't much to do by himself. The single indoor training facility had been packed with ninjas. Everyone was nervous with all the attacks, even the old man at Ichiraku had asked him what he knew about the situation. Well at least he had got a free bowl of ramen out of it.

He looked at her Ranmaru wondering if he had heard the news yet, "Ranmaru have you heard anything about Kirigakure lately?"

"I heard it was attacked. Although, how bad seems to vary," his tone was like Kakashi giving one of his lame excuses.

It's stopped Naruto in mid step, "that doesn't bother you?"

Ranmaru gave Naruto a strange look, "Raiga didn't like the people that much and he took solo missions when he could. He didn't even like any of the other Seven Swordsmen particularly Fish Face," he smiled like he was remembering a pleasant memory.

"Fish Face?"

"Yeah, he had blue skin and these gill things on his face." He held up three fingers under both of his eyes. "Fish Face."

"Kisame!" His shout earned him several angry glares from the nurses and a few patients but he didn't care. "Did you know a guy named Zabuza or Haku?"

"Zabuza, Haku" Ranmaru repeated slowly, "yeah, he didn't like Zabuza but I kind of like Haku." He looked down as if he was betraying Raiga by not agreeing with his opinion.

Naruto didn't know what to do. He had always wanted to know more about Haku. For someone he had known for such a short time, he thought about him a lot. Now that there was an opportunity he didn't know what to ask or even if he should.

"This is a hospital idiot you're supposed to be quiet."

Naruto spun around surprised to hear a familiar voice here. Unfortunately, he hadn't wiped his feet thoroughly and he slipped on the tile floor. He glared up at Sasuke as if it was his fault. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke matched his glare before answering, "Kado is visiting the survivor from his village. He refuses to go, unless I accompany him."

Naruto laughed at what Sasuke just told him. Sasuke being forced to do anything just didn't seem right. At least they seem to be getting along together better now, for a while he had been a little worried. He had seen Kado a couple of times, he was like another member of the Konohamaru core now but if someone mentioned Sasuke he would get annoyed.

Then what Sasuke had said registered, he had forgotten that Kado was from Kemurigakure and it had been destroyed the same time the Mist was attacked and his smile vanished. He couldn't believe that all those people he had seen were dead, not even their jerk for a leader. He hadn't seen Kado since he had heard, probably should've made the effort.

"What are you doing here?"

He let out a nervous laugh as he scratched behind his head embarrassed about his plan to get some alone time with Sakura. So, he lied "I just came to visit Ranmaru."

"I thought you wanted to walk Sakura home?" Ranmaru asked.

Naruto's face turned red as he climbed to his feet, shooting a glare over at the little traitor. "If you have time to waste you should be training," Sasuke gave him one of his smirks like he used to.

"I've been training all day, but there isn't much I can do just in my apartment and every other place is too crowded to do anything."

"You can use the one in the Uchiha district if you want," Sasuke looked away as he made the offer.

For a second Naruto was sure that this wasn't Sasuke that it was someone using the Transformation Jutsu because Sasuke never made such an offer before. Then again Sasuke had been acting strange in the last few weeks. "Really, what about Kado?" He tried to keep the hope and suspicion out of his voice.

"I think they're heading towards an argument again so it shouldn't be too long before he wants to leave. Besides, I was going to go there later, so you can tag along." As if his words were some sort of command muffled shouting came from one of the rooms down the hall. "I'm going to make sure they're not killing each other." He turned and walked away.

Naruto watched Sasuke until he disappeared into a room. He didn't understand why Sasuke had changed yet again. Every time he thought he was beginning to understand Sasuke something would change. At first he thought he was a stuck up jerk but then he thought they were friends or something. Then he had become a jerk again and now, he didn't know.

Remembering what he was supposed to be doing he turned back to Ranmaru who was still staring at the room Sasuke had gone into.

"Your friend is very angry."

Naruto cocked his head trying to understand what Ranmaru meant. Sasuke had seemed happier than he had in weeks. Shrugging he patted him on the head, "Ranmaru you say some strange things."

* * *

Etsushi watched as the last preparation for the upcoming battle were completed. Inside the castle, wooden towers had been built in his absence. They were to provide additional firing platforms. While on the outside stakes were being driven into the ground and ropes tied between them. The outside of the castle now looked like several Shoji boards had been laid on top of each other to create a confusing pattern of crisscrossing lines.

Their little raid on the Mist had been the equivalent of holding up a sign saying we're here. Then there was the destruction of Kemurigakure which had to be discovered by now. When he had torched the village he thought he would be hiding evidence and giving respect to the dead. He hadn't intended for it to spread like it had, but such was the fate of war.

With any luck Grass would blame Rain and they would go to war over it. If that happened it would disrupt several other alliances. If it wasn't for the raid on the Mist, the ninja world might be on the edge of another great war. With a little luck the Mist would try to keep the attack a secret but that was unlikely.

He spared a glance at the ocean, hoping to see the ship steaming towards the docks. If they didn't get here soon it wouldn't be a disaster but it would be inconvenient. There were no doubts that Ekei was dead, he had handpicked the men to do the job but had they gotten away with it. If they hadn't, he would be committing Seppuku to preserve the alliance between the monks and the Tenzo forces.

The sound of several gunshots pulled him out of his thoughts. Spinning around, he half expected to see a horde of ninjas emerge from the tree line. After a minute he shouted for the men to go back to work. It was too early for an attack, unless it was just an assassination team and they would prefer the cover of night.

After several minutes a group of men emerged from the woods on horseback. Their leader stood in his saddle and waved his arms in an odd pattern. It made him look like a fool but it assured him that they weren't ninjas using the transformation Jutsu.

"Death to all ninjas" the man shouted as he approached holding two Hitai-ate in his hand.

"How did you spot them?" He tried to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"Like the monks told us, sometimes the corner of your eye is better for spotting things," He handed over the two Hitai-ate. "We got two but at least two more got away, as ordered we didn't pursue."

Etsushi looked at the symbol on the Hitai-ate. Kumogakure, allies of the Mist not wholly unexpected. They were probably an advance scouting team. "Good work, there might be more lurking in the woods so be careful. Any word on the missing seven yet?" He was referring to the seven men who did not return with Nagoya Tenzo, he still held out hope that they had just been delayed.

"No," the man's tone had lost some of its excitement. The man looked curiously at the crisscrossing at the ropes that were being laid in front of the castle.

Etsushi guest at the unanswered question, "the ropes serve little tactical purpose it's mostly psychological. You see this is a rather old samurai tactic the attacking force either has to take the time to cut through the ropes or get tripped up in them. However, there are several Jutsu that I know of that can cut through this almost instantaneously. It should make them confident when they attack, while also providing a tripwire for us.

The man nodded understanding. He turned to resume his patrol when he pointed and shouted excitedly, "Our ships!"

Turning Etsushi stared out to see, it took him nearly a minute to find the small dots that were the ships, perhaps he was getting old. It took him another minute to realize that there were only three of them instead of four. Damm, to lose one of their ships and sixteen cannons for the sake of internal politics was frustrating. "What's your name?" He snapped at the man.

"Jiro Sir," he straightened with pride.

"Jiro, I'm putting you in charge of these men. When they're done with their work escort them into the castle by using the crane sign, anything else may get you shot."

"Yes sir."

"If anyone asks, I'm gone to collect Ekei. The Council will want to talk to him immediately." He didn't have to do this himself but he needed to know. As he rushed towards the docks, he thought how odd it was too say the dead man's name as if he was alive.


	19. Chapter 19

Kakashi rarely turned down a mission. It didn't matter if it was a D or S rank, but there were some he truly hated, meeting with Katsuro Date, was such a mission. It wasn't that it was a difficult mission, all he had to do was exchange information, but the man unnerved him. It wasn't like staring down a coldhearted killer was disturbing it was more like he wasn't all here. At least that's what he thought, especially after the way he broke the news about the attack on the Mist.

Unfortunately, Kakashi had demanded a mission that would take his team out of village not that long ago. So he was indebted to the Hokage, even if that mission had turned into something else. That was why he was in the apartment that doubled as a prison with a man that irritated him to no end, drinking tea.

Katsuro filled Kakashi's cup as he asked, "Was Konoha able to convince its allies to commit any forces?" The man's tone was smug, clearly he had good news.

Kakashi looked down at his cup wishing he had better news. "Grass will not be sending anyone though they are offering their supply of exploding tags. The fire may be out but they have a crisis on their hands with all the displaced people. Rain will send two hundred but they're nervous with Grass not sending anyone. Sand has been ordered by their daimyo not to send anyone, but there ignoring him, three hundred from them. When you add up the rest of the smaller villages there is an additional eight hundred."

"And Konoha, "Katsuro prompted,

"That depends on what you have to say." The problem was Sound. They had a rough estimate of their strength so the more they sent the more Konoha could send. If Sound was not sending anyone, well that was the worst case scenario.

"The Mist is pissed," Katsuro laughed at his own choice of words. "They're demanding a quick resolution to this problem but they're only offering up two hundred right now. If it can be confirmed that the monks aren't lying in wait, they will send more. Rock is sending eight hundred and we will be sending four hundred." He smiled, "Snow is sending just about everyone which is only about two hundred. They're a bit nervous considering some of the things they use probably shouldn't exist. They are most likely destroying some of their stuff right now."

Kakashi waited for more but when nothing came fourth he had to ask, "And Sound?" While their war with Sound was no secret, how badly they had been hurt by it was. Other villages would interpret their concerned about Sound as them being weak. If they were weak, alliances would be reconsidered.

"Sound is an ally but by default. All our messages to them have gone unanswered." He shrugged as if it was a matter of no consequence to him. "In the end though it doesn't matter how many ninjas we have, it's a matter of quality. For example, Rock is giving a lot but they've always preferred quantity over quality and Kirigakure will probably be sending walking wounded."

Kakashi wondered, was Katsuro giving Konoha a way out and if so was it on orders from his village or something he was doing on his own? It could also be a trap there was no way of telling. The problem was if there was another great war this man would be an enemy. So trusting him too much would be dangerous.

He gave the line he was supposed to, "two hundred and all the clans will be heavily represented." Kakashi had no idea how Konoha was going to produce that many and not leave themselves vulnerable at home but he didn't have to know.

"Thirty one hundred, I doubt there's ever been such a large force of ninjas gathered in one place at one time before." The man stared into his tea cup and for a moment Kakashi thought the man had zoned out. "We'll start sending our forces immediately but we'll have to come up with a plan when we get there. That's going to be fun." The man laughed but it was without humor.

Kakashi excused himself leaving his teacup filled on the table.

"You had the Uchiha survivor on your team, right." It wasn't a question Kakashi knew that Katsuro knew but he nodded, wondering where he was going with this. "I heard he found a relative in Kemurigakure before it was destroyed, that true?"

Kakashi covered his surprise by taking out his book, "Yes, he's fairly representative of that village. From what I've heard though, there's no hope of him ever becoming a ninja." He hoped that his spur of the minute lie would be believed. The Third Hokage had once warned him that Sasuke might be targeted for assassination because of his former unique status. After all there had been many in the ninja world who had celebrated the Uchiha massacre, such was the fear of their Kekkei Genkai.

He left trying not to look as if he was running off to report the results of the meeting. He ignored several irritated glances as he bypasses several others waiting for a meeting with the Hokage. Tsunade listened carefully until he was finished before saying anything.

"He didn't mention our low numbers but he knows about Kado, well I guess we couldn't hope for everything. At least you got an easy mission out of it." She smiled and handed him a piece of paper, "team seven leaves with a convoy in five days, they all must come back."

"Sakura is in no shape to go on a mission," Kakashi didn't even try to hide his shock at her suggestion.

"Don't you think I know that?" Tsunade shouted angrily as her fist smashed through the desk. "I know how bad she's hurt but I have to look at this as the leader of the village. She knows enough to keep somebody alive until a medical ninja can treat them and there's going to be a lot of injured. Besides, if Konoha is attacked while you're gone she won't be any help here."

Kakashi nodded understanding the Mist would not be the only ones not sending their best. Neither of them were strangers to war and he didn't envy her the decisions she had to make. He went to find one of his students and tell them to round up the other two. He had to visit an old friend before he would give them their orders.

* * *

Otonashi rubbed his eyes and looked away from the medical book. He hated studying but being a medical-nin would be a big plus when he was consideration for ANBU. For that he would almost do anything. He scanned the page in the vain hope of finding something remotely interesting about rapid mitosis via external chakra stimulation versus internal assisted chakra stimulation.

The word Jinchuriki popped up in one footnotes and that drew his attention. He was ninety nine percent sure that Naruto was one of them and if so that was very bad. He had taken a liking to him which was odd because he normally didn't take a liking to people that fast. Unfortunately, after reading the note twice he found that it wasn't useful either way.

He was about to go back to his reading when a kunai flew over his shoulder and embedded itself in his wall. Spinning around he was about to throw the chair at the intruder when he recognized it was, "Shiori what the hell are you doing!" His other teammates crouched on his window cell smiling at his discomfort."

"What type of ninja sits with his back to an open window?" She jumped off the windowsill and onto his bed. Pulling out a box of pocky she made herself comfortable.

"Shouldn't you be training with your new toys and don't eat on my bed." It wasn't like Shiori and he were that good of friends if at all, so her forwardness was a bit odd.

"I'll eat where I want until you buy me my replacement pocky." To emphasize her point she started chewing on a stick.

"I bought you your replacement pocky when you were in the hospital and again why are you here?" He pulled the kunai out of the wall wondering how long his parents would let him get away with a hole in his room.

"No, that was your, I'm so sorry that I'm bad at my job, because I left you with a scar apology gift." He turned intending to force her to leave when her face turned serious. "We were assigned a mission," she held out a crumpled piece of paper.

He frowned and took the paper. The two Genin without their sense even in the village shouldn't be assigned a mission. All the paper told was a departure date and they would be leaving with a convoy. The destination point wasn't given and they were supposed to wait there for further orders. There was no rank given and the mission will last for an undetermined amount of time. He looked over at Shiori expecting an explanation.

"When was the last time you left your room? You heard about the attack on the Mist right while there was a second attack on a hidden village called Kemurigakure. Between those two attacks, they're able to figure out who was behind them. There sending a good portion of Kumogakure force there," she smiled nervously.

"Relax, we're Genin will probably do nothing more than running messages to people. It's not like they can expect much out of us." Shiori was many things but she didn't become nervous too often and when she did it was generally for a good week reason. Trying to change the subject he asked, "How's the Jouhyou training coming?"

She shrugged and lifted her arm to show a device strapped to it. It was simply tightly wrapped wire with a small ball attached. "I can hit the target most of the time but I hit myself to." She looked over to his desk, "you're really getting into this medical stuff huh."

"It will look good on"

"You're ANBU application," she finished for him. "You know that's getting a bit annoying." She stood to leave and called over her shoulder, "see you tomorrow."

"Use the door," he shouted as she jumped from the window. That had been a weird conversation.

* * *

Naruto paused in his run through the woods; his last clone had just been destroyed. Normally, he would just create more but that would be against the rules of the game. Looking towards the goal he estimated that it was only two hundred yards away but there was a lot of ground cover to hide in. A few weeks ago, he would've just made a run for it and probably would've made it, but the Konohamaru core had become good at hiding lately. Well, at least they weren't trying to disguise themselves as square rocks any more.

He smiled and gave a mental shrug this was supposed to be fun, though the situation was reminding him of the Chunin exam. Choosing speed over stealth he sprinted straight toward the goal. Weaving away from anything that even looks like it might be a trap. Less than twenty yards away from victory he spotted the wire that was meant to trip him up and another that was meant to catch him if he tried to jump over the first. It was a bit disappointing they had tried this trick last time.

He jumped to grab the higher wire intending to use it to swing over the lower one. Unfortunately, the wire wasn't attached firmly to anything. With a surprise yelp he fell in a graceless heap. As soon as he hit the ground little hands grabbing for the scroll followed by cheers. He looked in the direction from where his last clone had been destroyed, Kado and Udon were running towards them.

"We gotcha boss," Konohamaru said grinning down at him.

"Are you alright Naruto," Moegi voice was concerned but she was still smiling.

He grinned at her ignoring the pain in his head, "I'm fine Moegi. I meant to do that."

"Is this what you call training Naruto? It looks like your just playing around."

Naruto turned to see Sasuke standing on a tree branch tree watching them. "We're just having a little fun and besides Kado said this was a practical exercise he used to do in Kemurigakure." He turned to Kado for some support only to be met with a glare. His expression would not have looked out of place on Sasuke but on the younger Uchiha it was strange. "What's"

"Shut up, just shut up." Kado outbursts caught everyone off guard he turned to leave but stopped and turned to face Sasuke. "I want to go visit Hoshiko."

"Go head"

"Come with me"

"I came here to collect Naruto we have a team meeting and we're already running late."

He looked like he was going to argue but suddenly ran off, leaving behind a very confused Naruto. Looking to his teammate for an explanation but Sasuke had already left. Shouting a goodbye to his friends he tried to catch up to Sasuke.

"Hey what's up with Kado?" Not getting a response he got in front of Sasuke to stop him.

Sasuke stopped and glared at him, "Why does it matter to you?"

"He's a friend and something is bothering him. I want to know if I can help."

"And what do you do when he annoys you or asks questions you don't want to answer?"

"Huh," he didn't understand what that had to do with anything. "Well yeah the four of them can be a bit annoying sometimes but they're still my friends. I mean you annoy me but where still friends." He had never come out and said they were friends before it was kind of weird and a bit scary. For one minute he thought Sasuke was going to call him an idiot for thinking they were friends but he just looked away as if he was thinking about something.

"He hasn't been sleeping well lately. He's just tired, it's no big deal. Come on, if were any later Kakashi will get there before us."

Naruto didn't fully understand what had just happened but he thought it was something important. More importantly for him was what hadn't happened, Sasuke didn't deny they were friends and that was kind of a first for him. That made him feel pretty good and he sped up not wanting to get there after Kakashi sensei did. He was almost out of sight of Sasuke when he stopped and shouted, "Hey, where are we supposed to meet anyways?"

* * *

Emergency Council meeting were never good, especially when they came in the middle of the night. The messenger had known nothing but where to assemble. So Etsushi had run the entire way, probably losing some of his dignity along the way. There were only a few things he could think of that would require such a meeting, there had either been an assassination attempt or an army of ninjas had materialized out of the darkness.

In the end it turned out to be one of those hurry up and wait meetings. He sat there with his young lord and a monk representative along with one of the civilians who had not left the castle before he expected the counter attack. None of them knew anything, so they waited for Lord Mitsuhide to arrive.

One of the shoji doors slid noisily opened to reveal the elderly Lord. He quickly but calmly took a seat as if he was sitting down for a meal, there was no panic or stress on his face. Of course that meant nothing. "I've just had a very interesting meeting," he began calmly. "A man appeared outside of our gates a little more than an hour ago, claiming to have a message for me."

"My Lord you shouldn't have let him in let alone met with him, he could've been an assassin." Etsushi didn't realize he had spoken his thoughts out loud until it was too late.

"I am old not senile. He allowed himself to be restrained in the appropriate manner. He is from the village called Takumi and claims that his village wishes to assist us in our noble goal. In good faith he has given us some information. Apparently the villages are forming a coalition to attack us. They propose to join and feed us information. In return his village shall be spared and enjoy a special status. The question I propose this question to the Council is should we accept this man's aid?"

Takumi Village of Craftsman Etsushi thought, it was famous for producing unique weapons to various hidden villages. They are also ninjas but not respected amongst their peers. This had to be a test for his son there are was no other reason why the man wouldn't be killed on sight.

"You said it would be impossible for them to cooperate with each other. What do you say now, where all doomed." The civilian had directed his comments at Etsushi who could hardly hold his contempt for the man.

"I said they couldn't work together for long. Even now they cut deals and betray each other. This coalition will be used by some to weaken other villages. It worries me not at all and if you weren't a merchant you would see it to. Having said that I don't think we should trust this man." He stopped himself short of saying kill the man though, if he was right his Lord would want his son to say that.

"Still, this man could provide us with useful information and we have used disgruntled ninjas for information before, I don't see why we shouldn't do it here." The monk that had replaced Ekai on the Council added.

Young Lord Nagoya Tenzo was shaking his head as the monk spoke. "Ninjas lay traps within traps we should kill the man and be done with it. After all there is a possibility that this is all a trap. Besides we have the moral high ground, if we consort with them the people will see this as just another war." He looked at Etsushi for approval as he said this.

He nodded with approval. With Ekai's death he had returned to normal, perhaps the man had been a demon corrupting him. Well at least something good came out of the whole affair.

"Then the Council is split two to two. That means the decision falls to me. I believe this is too great of an opportunity to pass up. If what this man says is true we might be able to destroy the entire force coming towards us."

"You are not looking at this from all points of view," Etsushi could not believe what he was doing. In theory every member of the Council was able to speak their mind because there was no rank here. However, he had never disagreed with his Lord before even in these meetings. "He could give us false information and we would end up sending our forces into a trap. Ninjas simply cannot be trusted."

The elder Tenzo held up a hand to stop his rant. "First the Council has voted and we all have agreed to abide by the vote. Second this is the Village of Craftsman, long ago they were known for making the finest swords any samurai could hope to wield. It was not until the rise of the hidden villages that they lowered themselves to deal with ninjas. Third and most important we will not be excepting his information at first. Until the information is proved we shall not rely on it completely."

His world was collapsing around him they were ninjas they should be killed, wiped off the face of the earth. It took all of his strength to bow and apologize for his outburst. He had to remind himself that this man was wiser than he was and had been working towards this goal longer then himself. Still as he left the room there was a knot in his stomach that had not been there before.


	20. Chapter 20

Authors note: A death poem was a tradition among the samurai where they would write a Haiku before they would go into battle in case they died. It would either be sewn into their clothing or simply left where it would be found. Also, if they were dying of old age they would write one too to sum up their life.

* * *

"Where are we?" Kado asked in awe as he gazed at the abandoned buildings around them.

"This is the Uchiha district." Watching Kado darting from window to window peering into the buildings with a stupid grin on his face he thought perhaps bringing him here was a mistake. His behavior was completely inappropriate for the situation. Kado may bare a passing resemblance to him when he was younger, but he was sure that he had never been this annoying.

"This entire district is named after us," Kado asked with awe. "Why is this district named after us and how come it's abandoned?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth Kado was usually smarter than this. "It's named that because it is where the Uchiha clan lived. It's also where they were killed."

That statement had stopped Kado in his tracks and he fell into step behind him as he walked by. The accompanying silence wasn't like when he was with his team but it lacked the hostility that they had only a few days ago. Accompanying Kado on his near daily trips to the hospital was annoying but it had broken a barrier between the two of them. The problem now was he refused to go to the hospital unless he accompanied him.

He wasn't sure why Kado bothered, most of the time they just stared at each other. When they did talk they had the most inane conversations that generally devolved into a shouting match. The way they acted it sort of reminded him of the way himself and Naruto were around each other. The only difference there was they seem to generally hate each other.

"Why are we here?" Kado's voice was solemn and when Sasuke turned around Kado wouldn't meet his gaze.

The kid looked pathetic, with his bangs covering his eyes and the atmosphere of a kicked puppy surrounding him. "I told you. I want to teach you something and we need to go there to do it." That wasn't true. The Great Fireball technique could be taught anywhere, water was just for safety, and it just seemed appropriate to teach Kado in the same place he had learned it, "come on were almost there."

Sasuke watched Kado from the corner of his eye; he suspected that Kado was thinking about a massacre, but probably not the one that had taken place here. He didn't think this place could affect Kado the same way it affected him. After all, Kado would never know that window had been broken that night or that was where Itachi had embedded a kunai into the family's crest.

With a shake of his head he banished those memories, now was not the time. "Hurry up, the pond is in the back." He led Kado around his old house and to the shore of the pond. "Do you know anything about how to use fire jutsu?"

Kado brushed his bangs out of his eyes before he answered. "I know the theory behind them but they had us working mostly with water, it was safer but at the Academy we won't be learning that until next year."

"Well, I mastered this when I was younger than you. So activate your Sharingan and pay close attention because I'm only showing you once." Taking a deep breath he made sure that Kado could clearly see the hand signs. Releasing his pent-up chakra as a giant fireball, he took a moment to watch the steam rise from the water. In an abstract part of his mind he noticed that this was larger than the one his father had showed him. "Alright, you try." He looked down at Kado who seemed bored, with his hands resting behind his head and his gaze off in the distance.

"Do we have to do this now? I mean," he trailed off unable to come up with an excuse.

Sasuke tried to conceal his irritation with the kid, "I'm leaving tomorrow on a mission. If I watch you practice now you can safely practice while I'm gone."

"So, let's do it when you get back." Kado mindlessly kicked at the ground, "I mean I like that you're showing me some of this stuff and stuff but, I'm just not in the mood right now."

What was up with his sudden change in attitude? It had been happening more and more frequently lately, one minute he would be normal and the next this. He tried to think of an idea for Kado to at least try, not wanting to have all his work be pointless. Turning to hide his smirk he said. "Do it whenever, but you're not a full Uchiha until you mastered this simple technique." He started to walk away when he heard the sound of an unsuccessful fireball, "keep trying."

Sasuke found a spot in the grass to lie down and watch Kado practice. The kid may have managed to activate his Sharingan but he lacked the fine chakra control and general experience to fully utilize it. He wondered how strong he would be if he had managed to activate his Sharingan at such a young age. Perhaps, he would have been strong enough to kill Itachi the last time they had meant.

A cold anger began to rise in him. He should be training not wasting his time on this kid. His fingers began to dig into the dirt beneath him as his thoughts turned to Itachi. Itachi would not be standing still, Itachi would be getting stronger and he was playing with Kado. Damn it, he was getting as bad as Naruto wasting his time with kids. He was about to leave when he spared one last glance at Kado. The kid was an Uchiha but he lacked any drive to become stronger which was not acceptable.

Still, he was improving rapidly. After every attempt he would pause for a minute or longer before attempting it again, he was learning from his mistakes and it showed. He wondered how much of that was the natural Uchiha talent and how much was the result of the advanced training he'd received in Kemurigakure.

Kado suddenly yelped in surprise and held his hand to his cheek. Sasuke didn't remember moving but before he realized it he was at Kado's side prying the little hand away from his face. There was a small burn on his cheek it looked worse than anything he had received while learning this technique. "You inhaled before cutting off the fire didn't you."

Kado pulled away and wiped away his unshed tears with his sleeve. "I know I screwed up."

Sasuke removed his Hitai-ate and dipped the cloth part into the cool pond water. While this wasn't the most sanitary thing to do, it was the quickest way to treat the burn and besides ninjas had to improvise sometimes. He really should have gone to one of the buildings to get some water from a faucet, but he wasn't sure if the water was still connected. Gently pressing the damp cloth against the burn he said, "come on, I'll treat it at the apartment."

"Thanks," Kado hesitantly took the cloth from him, all the time looking like a mouse waiting for the trap to spring. Turning away he expected Kado to follow him, but was stopped when the kid blurted out a question "Sasuke, do you ever" he paused and started again, "what I mean is," he trailed off and Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at him and waited.

Kado stood there for a minute his eyes cast down and the part of the Hitai-ate that wasn't being used as a makeshift bandage blew when the wind. When he did look up his eyes were full of the need that bordered on panic. "When all this happened," he gestured at the buildings around them. "Do you ever wonder why it wasn't you? For whatever reason, you weren't there but everyone else was."

Kado's voice began to crack and Sasuke knew without seeing that he was crying. That and the fact he knew he was talking about himself was the only thing keeping his irritation in check. "Listen, sometimes things happen for a reason and sometimes they don't. Whether you were there or not it wouldn't have made a difference. Do you understand?"

Kado nodded and Sasuke stood there waiting for him to compose himself. He didn't want to be here, it was uncomfortable but leaving him here wasn't the right thing to do. When Kado finally did look up he was no longer crying but his cheeks were still wet and the two Uchiha start to walk back to his apartment.

Kado broke the silence right before they were about to leave the district. "How did it happen?"

"Kemurigakure you mean?"

"No, I mean the Uchiha clan our clan. How did it happen and why?"

His jaw tensed in annoyance, ever since they had started talking again it had been an unspoken rule that Kado would not ask about that. Mentally sighing he decided on a half truth hoping he would stop asking about it. "There was a traitor in the clan. He was very strong and one day he decided to test how strong he was. I stayed late at the academy that day training. So by the time I returned home it was already over."

The story was mostly true. He would not tell Kado that his brother had been the traitor or that he had looked up to him. Nor would he mention that Itachi had allowed him to live when he killed everyone else. He added as an afterthought, "I'm going to kill him to avenge our clan."

"Why," the question was a simple one but it's set Sasuke off.

He suddenly rounded on the smaller boy who took a step back in fright. "He almost destroyed the entire clan and you don't want revenge? If you had been there that day, he would've killed you too and that doesn't bother you." He glared at the boy who looked like he wanted to disappear.

"It's not like killing him will bring them back or anything. So why bother?" For the first time that day Kado met Sasuke eyes.

"You wouldn't understand you've never known what a family was so how could you miss it." Sasuke began walking away not wanting to do something he would regret.

"Missions aren't personal." Kado shouted at Sasuke back repeating one of the annoying sayings that he had learned.

Sasuke continued walking away not wanting to deal with him. A moment later he heard the sound of Kado running. Waiting until the last second he sidestepped the flying kick and easily blocked the follow-up punches. With no real effort he was able to hook his leg behind Kato's knocking him to the ground. He pinned Kado to the ground with his foot not sure what he was going to do next but when he saw that Kado was crying.

The kid's face was red and between sobs he gasped out. "I don't want you to die. I can't lose you to. I don't even like you that much but everything is changing and I can't do anything about it. I just want it to stop."

Sasuke removal his foot from Kado's chest and looked away. When he had woken up in the hospital bed after the massacre, he had been in a state of shock and felt a lack of purpose. Was that how Kado was feeling now? He bent over to help Kado to his feet. "I'm not going to die, but I have to kill him it's a matter of family honor."

Kado suddenly threw his arms around Sasuke hugging him. They stayed like that one holding everything he had left in the world the other wondering if he still had a guard following him for several minutes when Kado started giggling. "You sounded like a samurai from a story I heard once. I think it was called the Forty-Seven Ronin or something. It was really stupid."

"Yeah well this is real." He tried to think of something to say to move past this awkward moment. "Master that technique by the time I get back and I'll teach you some more stuff. It's the first technique you've learned since you come to Konoha right?" He hoped Kado would be distracted by the question.

Kado sniffed before answering, "Naruto taught me one but it's only a distraction technique. Though it's really cool, you want to see it."

"Sure," he was surprised that Naruto was able to teach something to anyone and wondered what it could be. He would never say it, but Naruto had managed to learn some fairly impressive techniques. Including that one he couldn't copy.

A moment later all of his cognitive functions ceased as he stared at what Kado had transformed into. After a minute he was able to nod in acknowledgment of the successful technique. "Come on I have an early mission tomorrow." And he added to himself, I have to kill somebody.

* * *

"What's in all of these boxes anyways?" Naruto complained dropping the last box on the cart.

"Be more careful, these are medical supplies." Sakura scolded Naruto as she secured the box so that its contents wouldn't be damaged any further.

"Well this would be a lot easier if somebody would," he trailed off at the glare he received from Sasuke. For whatever reason, he seemed to be in a particularly bad mood today. Naruto unconsciously rubbed his jaw from where his rival had hit him earlier. It had been really weird, Sasuke had walked up to him, punched him muttered something and had walked away. Not even giving Naruto a chance to annoy him.

Glancing down the line at the other carts, he noted with pride that his was the first to be loaded. Team Eight which was the only other Genin team in this convoy was having some trouble, but there sensei was helping them. It made Naruto wonder if his team was a bit dysfunctional sometimes. No he corrected himself, they were probably just bored with the mission like he was. At first this mission had sounded interesting but so far it was ranking right up there with dog walking.

"Kakashi Sensei is late," Sakura complained seating herself at the end of the cart.

"What else is new?" Sasuke responded with his traditional answer to the old complaint.

Naruto smiled to himself, for the first time in a long time his team was starting to feel like his team again. Wanting to get in on the bashing of their sensei he added, "I think he was just too lazy to help carry the boxes."

"Actually I thought you would use your shadow clones to carry them all at once." Kakashi said appearing silently behind Naruto.

Naruto spun around and shouted in tandem with Sakura, "You're late!"

"Yeah sorry, but you see while on my way here I saw this fish drowning in a river and had to help it. Anyways, get ready to leave we will be traveling almost nonstop."

"Sasuke why don't you sit up here and ride with me," Sakura patted the empty spot next to her. Her expression fell as Sasuke ignored her offer.

"I'll ride with you Sakura."

Kakashi spoke up before she could throw him off the cart. "Everybody rides, until further notice, you are to conserve as much energy as possible and avoid any injuries," Kakashi ordered.

As they passed under the gates of Konoha Naruto noticed that there were still a few stars out. He tried to lean back and use his pack for a pillow but between the bumpy ride and the brightening sky he quickly gave up on it. By noon he was bored and when the convoy stopped at a small town to switch horses he intended to wander off and buy something to do while on the road.

That was until he noticed the glances he was receiving from the people. Naruto had grown up receiving such glances and even glares from people he had done nothing to and still received them. Until he had learned about the demon inside of him, those looks had both scared and angered him. So he did what he had done since he was a kid. Not having the time to pull a proper prank and give them something to really stare at, he simply stared back at them. Most of them did not meet his stare and those who did he made faces at which made them stop.

"Why is everybody looking at us like that?" Sakura whispered underneath her breath.

Naruto turned to look at Sakura who was chewing on her lower lip nervously. The fact that the stares were upsetting her angered him more than when he thought that they were just staring at him. He was getting to his feet about to do something when Kakashi pull him back down to the cart.

"Don't take it personally. Maybe this village had a bad run-in with some ninjas before or perhaps the anti-ninja propaganda has had a greater effect here. Just ignore them will be leaving in a few minutes."

"But a lot of those posters are even true or least that's what I've heard from the Hokage." Sakura said angrily.

Kakashi sighed and closed his book, "the truth doesn't always matter to people." His glance drifted over to Naruto for a second. "Sometimes people just need a scapegoat and right now were theirs. Don't worry if we eliminate the agitators things will go back to normal." He smiled with his eye to reassure Sakura and went back to the front of the cart.

Naruto leaned in towards her conspiratorially glad he could finally repay her for her help with the tree climbing exercise. "Just stare back at them, if that doesn't work make a face and they'll stop staring." She gave him an odd look but didn't have time to take his advice as the convoy started moving again.

Fortunately, that town wasn't like most of the towns they passed through. For the most part they were ignored as they pass by. The only time the convoy would pause was to change horses. So, by day five Naruto was glad that Kakashi had taught him that Jutsu that made him sleep anywhere anytime.

On day six, something finally happened to break the boredom. They were five carts just like theirs alongside the road. They had been torched and pushed to the side. Judging by the crater in the road one of the carts had been destroyed by an explosive planted underneath the road. There weren't any bodies except for several horses but it seemed to have happened awhile ago.

"What happened to them?" Naruto knew it was a stupid question. Even he could tell they had been ambushed, but he wanted to know how.

Kakashi answered somberly, "When it comes to sieges like this ninjas don't have much experience. If I had to guess the enemy has left some of their other forces outside the castle to attack targets of opportunity."

For the first time Naruto really understood what he was heading towards. He tried to convince himself that perhaps no one had been killed in this attack but he couldn't. Remembering what he had been told about Hunter-nin and how important it was to keep the villages secrets, he could guess at what happened here.

Probably not too long after the attack, Hunter-nin's had descended on the scene. Whether it was to protect or steal secrets, he didn't know. What he did know was this convoy had probably looked a lot like the one he was in and it had been wiped out and that frightened him a little.

* * *

Etsushi had seated himself far away from the balcony. Lord Tenzo was preparing to address the men but he personally saw no reason to go through these theatrics. They were samurai after all, they knew their duty. A better way for them to use their time was to check their weapons and write their death poem.

To be fair though he had received such a speech before his first battle and it had given him courage. Even during his mercenary days, he had given a few speeches to the same effect. He just believed that these samurai were better trained than he had ever been and had several technological advantages. His elderly lord booming voice broke into his thoughts.

"Today we begin a great undertaking. We shall end the domination of the hidden villages and restore honor and dignity to our society. There are thousands of ninjas outside of our walls but do not fear them they are cowards. They will not face us openly, they will come like thieves in the night and they will be cut down like thieves should be."

Etsushi quietly left the room so you do not have to hear anymore of the speech. He was too old to be moved by words alone. Besides he had much to do, the least of which was to work on his death poem. Not for the first time he began to imagine the dozens of ways the ninjas could attack the castle. He had devised counter measures but he still worried he was missing something.

"Etsushi, please one minute." The younger Lord Tenzo called out from behind him.

Turning he bowed respectfully, which was hard considering the narrow confines of the hall. This conversation would probably be of little consequence his younger Lord was probably just attempting to save him from any repercussions of his abrupt departure.

"You couldn't stand my fathers' speech either?" Nagoya smirked knowing he couldn't answer truthfully and continued. "I'm beginning to think we were wrong not trusting Takumi. Have you seen the report, it's quite impressive."

Etsushi shook his head, "they've told us little that is actually useful. This castle was built to take on a much larger force and while knowing there are at least two Jinchuriki out there it's not like we didn't plan for it. I would prefer to know how they intended to gather information on our defenses and even then I wouldn't trust them."

"Traps within traps, I know that was one of your first lessons you taught me when dealing with ninjas. Still you're not at all worried?"

Etsushi felt a paternal swell of pride. Nagoya was remembering the mistake he had made with those seven men earlier. It was the sign of a good leader to learn from your mistakes as long as you do not dwell on them. "I am concerned like I am before every battle, but I have confidence in the strategy. Traditionally taking the walls is the hardest part of the battle but in this case that's when the battle shall truly begin."


	21. Chapter 21

There were so many reasons why he shouldn't be doing this. For example plausible deniability, the more time he spent with Naruto the fewer excuses he would have. Well this time he could just say he wanted his opinion on the castle. After all Naruto and himself were some of the few who had actually seen a musket. Still, it wasn't like it granted them any special knowledge.

He glanced behind himself at Naruto. It had been easy to convince him to go on this spur of the minute recon mission. Besides, it wasn't like they were breaking any rules. He doubted there were any ninjas who hadn't snuck a look at the castle and it was considered safe as long as you stayed in the woods. "Well there it is," he didn't really have to say anything it was the only thing in the open field.

"Wow, it's shiny." Naruto said holding his hand out to block some of the glare.

"Yeah when the sun hits it just right it sort of glows like that. Look you can even see the city from here and see there's one of the ships that attacked the Mist." It appeared to be in a dry dock probably due to the large dent in its side, other than that the harbor was empty.

"Only one ship attacked the Mist, I heard there were more?

"From what I've heard, they were sent out to sea a few days before the convoy started to arrive. So, what do you think?" He asked tossing him a pair of binoculars.

Naruto looked through them for less than a minute before saying, "I don't see what the big deal is. Isn't it just going to be a really big fight?"

"The big deal is we've lost most of our advantages."

"What do you mean what advantages?" Naruto asked confused.

"Well the element of surprise for one, even though they don't know the exact time we're going to attack, they know we will. Then there are the muskets that will be shooting at us and all this open ground we have to cover just to get there." He gestured to encompass the vast empty field between the woods and the castle.

"Yeah, but we can hide and stuff."

"Well, this is only a rumor, but I hear they can negate at least some genjutsu and when they attacked the Mist the battle didn't turn against them until the Mizukage himself arrived."

"That's no big deal I don't use that sort of stuff anyways. Besides once they get a look at my awesome technique they'll run away like last time."

Naruto told the story about the battle of the bridge as they passed the binoculars back and forth. In exchange Otonashi told some of his battle stories and soon night fell. He was about to suggest they head back when the distant explosion drew his attention to the city.

The ship he had pointed out to Naruto earlier was in flames. Seconds later several other explosions went off within the city. Before he could even form a coherent thought Naruto darted towards the city, he followed in an attempt to stop him. From the corner of his eye he could see flares going off from the castle. The white light cast eerie shadows in the woods and made the open ground between them and the castle appear as bright as day.

It took Otonashi nearly a mile to get in shouting distance of his friend, "Naruto stop! You don't know what's happening." Naruto turned to shout something in return when the ground in front of him erupted before he could say anything.

A huge crab vaguely dressed as a samurai rose from the ground swinging a massive sword. It would have cut Naruto in half if he hadn't sprung backwards in time. "I am the two hundred and forty second son of Kanirouya and I have been summoned to prevent all…

"Shut up already!" The voice had come from a girl probably a little younger than Shiori as she peered down at Naruto like he was a curious specimen. "Look brother a little leaf has fallen onto our paths. Whatever shall we do with it?" She grinned through the bandages that covered most of her face.

"They're not worth the trouble, unless they want to try to drift past us." Her brother who was probably her twin slid off the crab's side. "Please try," the boy said approaching them. His hand drifting to the katana strapped to his back.

"Hey who do you think you're calling little, you're no older than I am."

At that moment Otonashi wished he could slap Naruto upside the head, couldn't he tell these were people not to mess with. He let his hand drift to his weapons, "Listen we don't want any trouble, where leaving." The girl glared at him but her face showed a flicker of confusion when she saw his Hitai-ate. Probably surprised to see a ninja from Kumo with a Konoha ninja, Otonashi thought wryly.

"Why don't you all calm down and do what sensei said to do. That means getting your hand away from your sword Tomo." The voice had come from a nearby tree and was rather cheerful. The boy, who was probably the third member of their team, jumped down from his perch and positioned himself between Naruto and his teammates.

"What are you doing, were you the ones that set off those explosives?" Naruto demanded annoyed with being ignored.

"Calm down, calm down," he held out his arms defensively. "We are just destroying the tools that can make forbidden weapons. We're well within our rights. That's what we were supposed to tell anyone who tried to interfere." He shrugged, "I am just a Genin and I just do what I'm told." He lowered his voice so his teammates couldn't hear. "Listen these two are old guard and their pissed right now. So, just get out of here."

That was a good enough reason for Otonashi and he pulled Naruto backwards by his collar struggling the entire way.

"Hey, let me go. We could've taken those jerks and why did you run away like that." Naruto complain once the Mist's Genin were out of sight.

"You said you fought Zabuza and you know how he graduated, right." He waited for Naruto to nod. "Well after his little graduation party there were a lot of reforms that not everyone agreed with. Those people became known as old guard. I've met a few of them. Trust me you don't want to fight them if you can avoid it."

"But if the Mizukage ordered something, than it should be done, that's the purpose of having a leader."

Otonashi's step faltered with Naruto's uncharacteristic seriousness. It took him a minute to think of something to say in response to that. "Naruto, there is always opposition to a villages leader even if you can't see it."

Naruto didn't respond lost in his own thoughts. Otonashi turned to the question that was nagging him. What was he going to do about Naruto? He had set out to determine if Naruto Uzumaki was a Jinchuuriki and he was now sure that he was.

It was a small thing but when he had asked someone in the Konoha camp where he might find Naruto, the guy had known. Now why would he know where a particular Genin was unless there was something special about the Genin? Okay Naruto was loud, blonde and wore orange that alone would leave an impression but, in the light of his healing ability and those eyes.

If he was being honest with himself he had known ever since he had seen his abnormal healing ability and all this time was merely a desperate attempt to find a reason to dislike Naruto so his conscience wouldn't bother him. The problem was he did like him. He was genuine, what you saw was what he was and that was rare, for a ninja at least.

Still he had an obligation to his village to report this and then they would try their very hardest to try to kill him. He thought it was odd that no hidden village ever seemed to mind when there Jinchuuriki was killed but then again when at first glimpsed the power of one he had been scared out of his mind.

Maybe he wasn't cut out to be in ANBU, letting something like this get under his skin, it was unprofessional. For better or worse he knew Naruto's secret. Glancing at Naruto you try to figure out what he was going to do with the information. Well, maybe one of them was killed in the upcoming battle that would put an end to this whole mess.

* * *

Katsuro Date watched from his perch on a tall tree as the last fire was within the city was extinguished. This wasn't good. In theory each hidden village had agreed not to act independently but there were no consequences for violating that agreement and he could understand why they had done it. If his village had been attacked like theirs had he would want to strike out too. 

The real problem was it highlighted the inherent flaw in the coalition. Ninjas as a group were used to acting independently. They would receive a mission and then carried it out as they saw fit or as their direct commanders saw fit. To ask hundreds not only to work together but to work with other villages was expecting a lot.

Right now fear was the only thing keeping the coalition together but the longer the siege went on for the less chance the coalition had to survive. He wondered how long it would take villages to come down and start thinking how they could use this situation to their advantage. It would probably start with the smaller villages saying they couldn't afford to lose a few of their ninjas. Then some of the larger villages would start withdrawing thinking that their enemies could fight the battle and take the casualties.

In that aspect it was fortunate that the Mist had been attacked. It has galvanized everyone into action, if it could happen to a great power it could happen to anyone. Kemurigakure distraction alone wouldn't have caused such a response. He doubted that Iwa or even some of the smaller villages would be here if it wasn't for that. Even some of Kemurigakure old allies wouldn't be here. After all there was little point in being loyalty to a destroyed village?

"Katsuro get down here, your accompanying me to Konoha's camp."

Glancing down he saw sensei staring up at him, "now why would we be going there at such a late hour?" He said obediently jumping down from his perch.

"One of Konoha clans is doing a recon mission tonight. They have invited observers from each village. That means Iwa will be sending someone and depending on who it is you may have to prevent me from trying to kill them or vice versa."

He eyed his sensei wandering was he serious or was this just one of those preparing him for being the Raikage things. "Sensei, you have more self-control than that."

His old sensei stopped and eyed him, "playing the fool doesn't suit you. Knock it off." The old man turned before adding, "If the Raikage sent your team on a mission they were meant to fail would you be able to handle yourself in front of him or his sycophants? Come on pick up the pace." They took to the trees and traveled in silence.

Katsuro thought about it and felt sick. His sensei had been born in Iwa and had been one of their best. During the last Great War he had taken on a Genin team. His team had consisted of a group of kids who were, as his sensei described as nothing particularly special.

Perhaps that was why they were chosen as sacrificial lambs. On one of their first solo missions they had been given a message to carry to an ally. It should have been simple but their root had been leaked to Konoha. The message was supposed to be intercepted and the false information would then be acted on.

It hadn't gone that way. They all had fought to the end and they destroyed the message so that it would not fall into enemy hands. When his sensei had learned of this he had not taken it well. In the end he had ended up defecting and several years later had taken on another team. Well maybe he was serious.

"Katsuro, I want your opinion," his old sensei said out of nowhere. "I had a talk with Takumi representative today. He pointed out that things have been going rather well for Konoha of late. The Sand Sound attack didn't seem to hurt them too much. After all they haven't turn down any missions as far as anyone can tell. Now into a convenient thing happens the Sound doesn't send anyone here which is why they sent so few. What do you think of that?"

He tried to figure out what Takumi was trying to say. It sounded as if they were accusing Konoha of being secretly allied with Sound. Which didn't make any sense, Sound had just attacked them. In order to believe this theory, one would have to believe the real target of the attack was Sand. That was a stretch of the imagination. The only thing the theory had going for it was that Sounds leader had once been a Konoha ninja. "It sounds as if they're trying to find an excuse to withdraw their force."

"That's what I thought but it sounded too complex for just that."

They had to kill their conversation as their destination came into view. They were one of the last but the tension was palpable. Clearly the Mist actions had put everyone on edge. It made him wish that they had prohibited weapons, not that it would have helped. He felt his sensei tense and following his line of sight he saw an old woman glaring at him. Pulling the way he wondered how many other old grudges were trying to be buried.

"All right let's get this over with." A man with unusually long blonde hair shouted before suddenly seating himself in front of a messenger hawk. A moment later he slumped and the hawk flew off. Katsuro had heard of the Mind-Body Switch technique before but didn't know it could be done with animals, very useful to know.

After a few minutes he asked no one in particular, "Why not use a seagull? Wouldn't that be more natural?"

"Couldn't find any," somebody shouted in response.

That's odd Katsuro thought, this close to the sea they should be like flies. No, he couldn't remember hearing any birds lately. With all the noise from the camp he hadn't noticed. He glanced up at the star strewn night. "Calm him back, it's a trap!"

Everyone looked at him like he was crazy before the realization occurred to them too. Panic for a minute before they realize there was nothing they could do. His body was here but his mind was in the bird. Five minutes passed than six before several gunshots rang out in the distance and the man's body became unnaturally relaxed.

* * *

Kakashi raced towards the makeshift training fields. The attack plan had been decided on and Naruto had been given a key role. His proficiency with the Shadow Clone Technique made him ideal for the position. As much as he hated not being able to protect one of his students he had to admit the plan was sound. 

There were few ninjas that could create as many clones as Naruto could. If he could he would take his place but he had already been assigned to another task. Now he had to tell Naruto what was expected of him in two days and see what he could do to help. Naruto probably would be thrilled but if he ever found out who had suggested him for the position, they would know pain before they knew death.

The plan itself wasn't perfect but it was far better than Iwa simple mass attack idea. Then again, Mist suggestion of torching the city and forcing the civilians to flee to the castle was a sound strategy to slip some men inside. Beside it would prove counterproductive in rebuilding their image among the civilians.

Seeing a glimpse of orange he dropped down from the trees. The twin yelps of surprise made him glad he was wearing a mask, Genin were so much fun. Eyeing Naruto's companion he wondered if Kumogakure might know about Naruto's tenant. No, he shouldn't jump to conclusions. Naruto has shown off his Shadow Clone ability during the Chunin exams and it was odd enough that many would have taken note of it. Still he would like to know who nominated him for this task.

"Naruto, I need to borrow you for awhile. There's something, I have to teach you."

"Really, what is it?" He jumped up like a little kid expecting a new toy.

"We'll I'll see you around Naruto," the boy from Kumo said excusing himself.

Kakashi watched him until he disappeared wondering why that boy was so interested in Naruto. He remembered the conversation he had with Jiraiya about Kumo tendency to kill other village's Jinchuuriki. "What were you two doing?"

Naruto gave him a confused look, "we were sparring. We do it just about every day. Now come on you said you were going to teach me something."

Kakashi wondered if there was a chance if the two could be just friends. He didn't think it was possible, Kumo didn't like to interact with the other villages and that attitude was ingrained into their ninjas. There was something else going on here and he didn't like it. Well he would just keep Naruto occupied until the attack and make sure he left with the first convoy out of here.

"Naruto sit down, I want to show you something." Performing a few hand signs he created a small model of the castle. "The attack is going to be two prong but you only have to worry about the one part. Our biggest problem we're facing here is this open field. If we run across it the muskets would pick us off so we're going to take that advantage away from them and you are going to help."

"What am I supposed to do?"

Kakashi looked up at Naruto, he had to admit Naruto was taking this better then he thought he would. "You don't have to do anything your clones will be doing all the work. Gaara is going to use his sand to lay down a ramp that should lead right up to the castle wall. You and your clones are going to run up this ramp laying down a smokescreen. Got it?"

"Yeah, but what are you going to teach me?"

"First I want to make sure that you can create a satisfactory number of clones and then I have to show you what you have to do when you lose a clone. This is going to be a long two days."


	22. Chapter 22

Naruto felt strange as he looked across the field at the castle, he didn't think it was that far away last time he was here. 

Well it really wasn't that far, in the Academy it would hardly been considered a warm-up, but in the Academy people hadn't been trying to kill him. And that was exactly what those guards on that eighteen foot wall would be trying to do the entire time. Still, the smokescreen should keep him from being hit. 

It would be just like when Ranmaru had used that strange mist. The only difference was he would be using smoke and clones. At least that's what Kakashi sensei had told him. After all it was better to lose clones than to lose ninjas. Really the only thing he had to do was replace his fallen clones something he thought would be simple, but he didn't realize how hard it was to direct his clones without seeing them.

"Suna signaled that their almost ready." Iruka turned his sad eyes on Naruto, "I guess that means you should create your clones now."

Naruto smiled, creating thirty clones effortlessly. He still thought it was strange that he hadn't seen Iruka until now, but when he thought about it he had been with Otonashi or Kakashi most of the time. The last couple of days had actually been fun for him. Otonashi was the first person around his age to go out of his way to hang out with him, the only other people who seem to do that were Iruka or Konohamaru and then having Kakashi's undivided attention was nice.

"Listen Naruto, I wish you didn't have to do this and if I could I would take your place," Iruka said helping him put on the backpack. "Since I can't I want you to promise me something. Whatever you do don't try to be a hero today, let your clones do all the work and please don't go over the wall until the first wave has."

Naruto glanced up at the Iruka annoyed. Both Kakashi and the Pervy Sage had asked him to do similar things. Did they all think he couldn't do anything? Well he'll prove them wrong he smiled but didn't agree. Iruka looked like he was going to say something else but the ground trembled.

Geysers of sand burst out of the ground pooling like water. Small waves formed, crested and fell. The sound was that of glass grinding over itself, it was eerie. The mass of sand surged forward a little at first and then in increasingly larger and larger waves. Soon the waves were of titanic portions in both height and length. The waves collapsed under their own weight shaking the ground each time they broke.

Tons of sand smashed into a twelve foot wall that did not give an inch. The ground shuddered as the sand came to rest sending miniature tsunamis of water out of the moat. Naruto started running the smoke poured out of the packs on his clone's backs. It was thick and white and between it and the flares being shot off from the castle he could only see a few feet in any direction. If it wasn't for the sand he wouldn't know exactly where he was going. 

He started losing clones fast and had to create more as he ran. The slope became steeper and he prepared to go over the wall. Peering through the smoke he could make out the vague shape of a man. Loosening his backpack he threw it as he lunged towards the man. His pack, still spewing smoke hit him in the head causing him to drop his musket as his fist connected with his face.

The sickening sound of bone and cartilage breaking was all Naruto could here for a second. The next minute his momentum was carrying both of them over the wall-walk and falling down an eighteen foot drop. The samurai landed with a sickening thud and he landed on a bunch of clones which sort of broke his fall. Looking up panic gripped him as he saw at least four rows of samurai with muskets pointing at him.

Naruto scurried behind a building as the first volley was fired. From there he took in his surroundings. The first thing he knows was he had screwed up; he was at the corner of the castle when he had wanted to be in the center. That was disappointing but not a big deal they were all supposed to head towards the center of the castle. The other thing he noticed was the backpack he had thrown at the samurai had followed him down and was still spewing smoke.

Staying low he peaked around the corner, the samurais weren't advancing. In fact there was a small stockade in front of them, each row of samurai taking a turned firing. Retreating he peaked his head around the other side of the building and saw the same thing. Both sides were now firing every few seconds, he was trapped.

Sitting down and folding his arms Naruto tried to think of a way out of this. He jumped as several ninjas landed near him the first wave was here. Looking up he was surprised, "Hinata?"

* * *

Running through the smokescreen was the most confusing thing Otonashi had ever done. It wasn't so much the smoke itself as all the damn flares the castle was sending up. The flares made the white smoke glow painfully bright. It was almost impossible to keep his eyes on the back of the Hyuga that was supposed be leading his group. 

She shouted something over her shoulder but Otonashi couldn't hear her. He did notice the change in direction though. She must've noticed something. Well, that was why they were leading the groups, to spread out the attack. 

They emerged from the smoke and he saw a glimpse of the interior of the castle. Before jumping down he saw smoke rising and caught a glimpse of orange. What were the chances? Landing, he did a quick check of who was still with the group. It was only Shiori and that Konoha Chunin. Chikao the third member of his team along with the rest were missing. Well as long as they kept heading up the hill they'd be fine.

Moving to the corner of the building while taking out a small mirror, he peered around the corner. The mirror was shot out of his hand. "Hey, I think we're stuck." He shouted directing his comment at the only Chunin among the group.

Pineapple head didn't acknowledge he had heard, instead he turned his attention to the radio. He flipped it off annoyed "Everyone's reporting the same problem and they are calling off reinforcements until we can make a breakthrough. It's like they knew we were coming, troublesome." He slid down the wall and seemed to tune out the world.

"I guess it doesn't take much to become a Chunin in Konoha, huh." Shiori said staring down at the Chunin, "hey Hyuga, what's behind this wall? Maybe we can get inside and get around those muskets?" she asked kicking the building.

The Hyuga activated her Byakugan before answering. "There are boxes of supplies but the wall is almost two feet thick."

"That means, even if we had enough explosives to blow a hole in it, it would take down the whole wall," Shiori complained.

Naruto suddenly jumped up smiling before creating a clone. It took a moment for Otonashi to recognize what he was doing. Last time he had seen this Jutsu Naruto hadn't used a clone, but the spinning chakra was familiar. Naruto pushed it into the wall and the effect was less than impressive. A few chips of rock fell to the ground and even Naruto seemed disappointed.

"Can you keep doing that?" Pineapple head had pulled himself out of his own musings and seemed interested. Naruto shrugged and did it again, making a little more rubble. "Keep at it as long as you can," he turned on his radio and started talking.

Otonashi shrugged at Shiori's confused look and went back to observing the samurai with a broken part of his mirror. They weren't exactly conserving ammo. So, what was their plan?

"You're Otonashi, right" turning he saw the Chunin looking over his shoulder at the mirror fragment.

"Yeah but," he was cut off.

"Congratulations you're part of the team. Come on and I'll show you what we have to do." He nodded toward Shiori and the Hyuga girl. They were standing around a crude diagram that had been scratched into the stone.

"Alright this is troublesome but, everyone here is now under my command."

"And why the hell would I take orders from a Leaf?" Shiori demanded.

The Chunin sighed and muttered something under his breath that sounded like troublesome women before answering. "Because, your sensei suggested you for second in command and for right now we're all allies.

"Now as I was saying right now we're in a trap. Right now we are just stuck behind these walls and cut off from each other. Their using a large portion of their force to keep contained and probably intend to wipe us out somehow, but they'll likely waiting to see if another wave comes over the wall. 

"So, since we can't go down the alleys or go over the roofs, will going through the buildings. However, we have to wait until an ANBU team gets here. There's a target they need to take out within the castle and we are going to be their diversion. If this works it will be duplicated by others." He had been drawing arrows to emphasize his point when he had finished he looked up, inviting questions.

He asked the obvious. "Yeah what is your name and how are we supposed to be a distraction?"

"Shikamaru and they didn't say. The radios might be tapped."

With that news he turned his attention to Naruto, who was making considerable progress in his hole. Damn, how many times could he use that Jutsu anyway? His thoughts were broken into by the sound of stone moving against stone. A small wall bridged the gap between the two buildings as an ANBU team scurried across. Naruto sensei was among them. 

"Yamato help Naruto. Shikamaru come here."

Otonashi was shunted aside along with the other Genin as the ANBU members took up positions. He caught Shiori eyes before she could say anything. "If we pull this off were both Chunin for sure." She smiled at that and he wondered if that was true.

"Hey, Otonashi you're a medic right?" Naruto asked.

"Sort of, but I'm not officially a medic yet. Why?" In response he held out his hand. There were a few cuts but, the chakra burns were serious. He blocked Shiori view just in case she noticed the abnormal healing ability. "It's not too bad but here take this, it will kill the pain and replenish some of your chakra." He almost winced at Naruto's trust as he downed the pill. If he had wanted to he could have just poisoned him. 

"Hurry up or you will be left behind," Shikamaru called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the hole.

Naruto ran for the hole and Otonashi was right behind him until he was stopped by Shiori. "Did you see that?"

Otonashi's heart stopped as he tried to think of what she might have seen, "what do you mean?"

"That guy grew a tree root out of his hand. I've never even heard of such a…"

"Ask sensei later, come on." He tried to keep the relief out of his voice as he darted towards the hole. The inside was dark and lit only by a few emergency lights. He thought they would be going out the back but it didn't take him long to realize they had something more interesting in mind. 

The roof was constructed out of thick slabs of stone. They probably weighed several times each and explosive tags were being placed on their supports. He winced at the image his mind created. This was going to be messy. He joined the rest of the Genin for a quick briefing with Shikamaru.

"I've just been told what our objectives will be. We're supposed to take out a gate and if it is too heavily defended were supposed to start fires wherever we can. If something happens to me Shiori is in command and it's something happens to both of us just start fires." He paused to let that sink in. "One more thing Shiori there's going to be a tower that needs taking out I'm told you…"

Shiori grinned withdrew an arrow with explosive tags tightly wrapped around the shaft. Her family was known for its marksmanship which was why most of them were in the first wave. Like the Hyuga it was her family's talent that brought her here. Most Genin were relegated to the second or third wave and if he hadn't been training to be a medic he would have been with them.

"Fire in the hole," As one they crouched and covered their ears as several simultaneous explosions went off. For a second afterwards he thought nothing had happened then the ceiling started to move. An inch at first but as soon as it started it was over. The ANBU were the first out just in case the slab of stone hadn't crushed everybody and Shiori was right after them.

He was just in time to see the explosion. She had aimed at one of the towers four legs and if it had been better constructed it might've withstood the blast. Instead, it twisted spilling the cannon and men off of it. Fortunately, there was enough still standing to provide a platform they could climb on. It made breaching the wall easy. 

They regrouped in a carefully tended garden destroying the subtle patterns of sand under their feet. The ANBU team continued on to their target without a backwards glance. Shikamaru did a quick headcount, "all right everyone's fine. I want to try to take this gate by surprise so were going to sneak there. I'll take the lead Shiori you're next followed by Naruto, Otonashi and then Hinata who will use her Byakugan to protect the rear. If you see anyone take them out."

Shikamaru last order was unnecessary. There was only one patrol but it was easy to avoid. Going down alleys and across backyards they made good time. The privacy walls were unexpected allies. Soon they were at their target.

"There are three people in the building, but I don't see anyone else."

"Thanks Hinata, I thought they would be more. Alright everyone take your positions." 

"Wait there's a guy with a wagon coming down the street should we let them pass?"

Shikamaru cursed, "We can't. He's probably bringing more ammo to the front." For the first-time since they had met he looked nervous. "Naruto come with me. Shiori you lead the takedown."

"Right, Otonashi flush them out." She said tossing him a chlorine gas grenade.

Sneaking around to the back of the building he made sure to stay out of sight. The gatehouse was a small stone building and it only had a few slots just big enough to stick a musket through. Fortunately, the builders had overlooked one small thing while constructing it. There was a vent sucking in air from the outside.

That small vent was where he put the grenade. The yellowish gas was sucked into the building poisoning the guards. It wouldn't kill them unless they stayed in the building and since there was only one exit they would be cut down as they fled. It seemed to take forever before he heard a commotion out front. There were several explosions followed by silence.

Running around to the front of the building he had to step over the bodies to join the other two who were looking at the gate. After a minute he realized the problem there was no way they had enough explosives.

"Look out explosives coming." Turning Otonashi sought two Naruto's caring a wooden box between them. They practically threw the box against the doors before disappearing. They were followed by another pair and another.

Shikamaru appeared up from around the corner his arm bleeding freely but smiling. "It would be a shame to let this stuff go to waste after all that trouble. Everyone retreat to a safe distance. Except for Hinata, I need your Byakugan to spot some weaknesses in the gate."

"Augh, come on Shikamaru why can't…"

Pulling his friend by the arm he said, "Don't argue with your superiors." They fell back to a spot where they could watch the two in action. "What took you two so long?" Naruto started to answer when they heard a shot. He turned just in time to see the girl Hinata fall to the ground as the gate exploded. 

He tried to stop Naruto but again he was too fast.

* * *

So, that's what happened when a summons died. Etsushi watched as the giant bee stopped twitching. For some reason, he had always imagined they would simply disappear. Then again it hadn't had much of a chance. A cannonball had cleaved it in two, he actually felt pity for it, death hadn't been quick and now all it was good for was cover.

Still it was interesting to watch the various ways they try to break the firing lines they were futile but informative. Right now they were exactly where they wanted them, trapped within their walls. Unable to advance against the constant volley of fire and if they tried to retreat the men in the towers would cut them to pieces. 

Thus they stayed in a narrow zone of safety. That would become a kill zone once they chose to spring their trap. He smiled wondering how they would react when they saw a calm of samurai seize the high ground and start firing down upon them. It was a shame that they could only catch the first wave with it. Still after such a massive loss he doubted that little coalition would stay together.

Etsushi lowered his binoculars hearing someone run up to him. "There's been a breakthrough on the south side. It was contained but a few slipped into the second sector and the Southgate is under attack."

For the first time that night he actually felt excited. He immediately felt guilty, after all everything was going according to the plan but he been assigned a do-nothing position. It went against his nature not to be in the thick of things and this was an opportunity to see some action. "You ten with me," he shouted to a group of samurai.

The second sector was where trusted retainers of Lord Tenzo lived. There were few roads and it was quicker to run down the alleys which meant it had to be done on foot. When the gate came into view his worst fears were confirmed.

There were about a dozen boxes of black powder stacked against the gate and a ninja placing explosive tags on the gates hinges. He was already aiming by the time he noticed how small they were, it didn't matter. He fired and the body dropped, one less ninja in the world. For a second he thought he might have been in time but then there was an explosion that knocked him off his feet. 

He prayed they would hold but one of the massive doors fell forward and the other slowly swung open. Etsushi turned to one of the samurai who looked shook up, "report this. We need as many people as 

possible here to cover this hole. You five check the left the rest with me. I want them dead." This wasn't the worst thing that could have happened but he didn't want them running around causing more trouble.

He paused to reload his musket while sending his men down a gap between two houses. They could have gotten far in such a short time even if they had started running as soon as he took his shot. He wondered where they had obtained the black powder, if they had broke into one of the powder magazines it would probably explode soon.

Hearing shots from the alley he rushed towards it only to stop as a body came flying out of the alley immediately followed by an orange blur. It crashed into him, rolling with the impact his musket misfired. Throwing the thing off of him, he continued the roll while drawing his Katana in one fluid motion.

On his feet he eyed his opponent. He was only mildly surprising to see his opponent was a child. He sat crouched on the wall out of reach staring down at him. His eyes glowed like coals. It struck a primal fear into Etsushi. The urge to run was only suppressed by years of training still, this was no ordinary ninja.

He watched as he made a hand sign and clones started to appear around. Pivoting on the ball of his foot he cut down the nearest clone, it was solid. Cursing under his breath he turned slashing his sword in an arc cutting down two more clones. This calls for a strategic withdrawal. He ran destroying clones all the way.

Running down the empty streets dodging the occasional kunai, Etsushi tried to come up with a plan. Turning he cut down another clone before running again. This wasn't working. By running away he had hoped to slowly whittle down the numbers of clones, that wasn't happening. The amount of clones this kid could produce was unprecedented to his knowledge especially since he wasn't using an element to create them.

He could only see two ways out of this. The first and most logical was to lead him to a group of reserve troops who could cut them down with muskets. The samurai in him rebelled at such a cowardly act even though he had spent a great deal of time breaking down that barrier in his men. The second option and the one he preferred, was to kill the originator and the clones would disappear on their own. He would just have to find him.

The only thing he knew about this type of clones, was that they were created with a set amount of chakra and naturally conserved it unless told to do otherwise. He wondered if he could use that to pick out the original. The plan that formed in his head required a lot of water and he knew where he could find it. That hideous garden of Lord Tenzo could actually be useful.

Now with a distinct plan in mind he picked up speed and headed for his Lord's mansion. Slamming through a side door he ran towards the garden. He jumped into the water that was only about ankle deep. He heard several splashes behind him and he knew he had won.

Drawing his wakizashi he went to work. By no means was he an expert at handling both swords simultaneously but the clones only needed a solid hit to be destroyed. If the clones had been men he would have become a legend for this battle alone. Slashing and blocking he destroyed numerous clones all the time watching their feet.

He finally saw it. There was one standing on the water instead of in it only ten feet away. For a ninja at this level it was second nature. Cutting down one last clone he threw his wakizashi. He had thrown it at his right shoulder so the kid naturally dodged to his left and right into his fatal cut.

The body fell lifeless with a splash as it hit the water. The clones popped out of existence and he bent over to catch his breath. Glancing at his fallen opponent, he noticed how childlike he was. The red eyes were gone and the expression was anything but fierce. He felt the pain of sympathy for him, if he'd been born a samurai he would still be homing his skills. Something told him that kid would've been a good samurai. He went to collect his wakizashi.

* * *

The Kyuubi was old. So old that its memories no longer stretched back to the beginning of its life. This bred arrogance for it saw itself as an element of nature. No different than the water or the earth it would tread upon. Perhaps it was even greater, for with a flick of its tail even those two elements would bend to its will. Yes, it was great.

Thus its imprisonment was a sacrilege, an affront to its very existence but death was unacceptable. Not because it was the end, but that it reminded it of its own mortality. That was why it forced its chakra into its prisons body. Wounds were healed and consciousness returned. Naruto Uzumaki would not die today and for that, he should thank the Fourth.


	23. Chapter 23

Etsushi walked through the ankle-deep water in search of his fallen wakizashi. Finding it lodged in the mud he cleaned it with a piece of cloth that was used to wipe away blood from his swords. The sound of a nearby rocket going off drew his attention and he watched it until it exploded in a bright flash of crimson. That was the signal to begin the counterattack.

This battle would soon be over, he thought morosely. In the distance he could hear the cannons fire regularly for the first time tonight and he could easily imagine the columns of samurai starting to move. He was pulled out of his musings by the sound of splashing water from behind him. The boy he had left for dead was climbing to his feet. A red haze surrounded him, it seemed almost demonic. "What are you?" he whispered.

His question went unanswered as the boy charged him. Drawing his katana he slashed downwards going for a decapitation cut this time. Only the tip of the blade cut his opponents shoulder. The blonde spun around and landed a solid blow on his left side that sent him reeling.

He recovered just in time to see the first clone kick him into the air, with a shout of "U!" Another one hit him further into the air shouting "Zu!" The third and fourth struck him almost simultaneously with the shout of "Ma!" and "Ki!" By that time he had recovered enough to see the fifth and final one coming down at him.

Etsushi grabbed his opponent's leg as he swung it down. It was solid enough and he swung him around to use him as a cushion for his landing. He positioned his katana to impale the blonde as they landed. He noticed the fearful look in his opponent's eyes, before crashing back to earth with a splash. As his sword pierced the flesh the body disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

Raising his head out of the water he saw the trap too late. The boy charged him with a swirling ball of something in his hand. He tried to move his katana between the two of them, hoping he would impale himself but he knew he was too slow.

A pain ripped through his gut and he was flung backwards with such force that the wall spider web as he heard a snap. He slid down the wall and into the water. Oddly he felt nothing, which was not good, his back was probably broken. For a moment he waited for the final blow but it didn't come. He slowly looked up to see that the boy almost looked normal. He took a deep breath and said softly, "finish it."

It was shameful to be killed by a ninja and humiliating to be killed by a mere boy but, to live after this was something worse. He kept his eyes locked on him, waiting for something to happen.

The boy finally spoke and his voice left no doubt that this was a mere child. "You killed Hinata."

For a moment he cast his mind to the past trying to remember that name before he realized it was probably somewhat more recent. "The one at the gate," He shrugged with the one shoulder he still controlled. "I've killed a lot of ninjas."

"Why!"

Etsushi vision was becoming dark around the edges but he mustered his remaining strength. "You're mercenary scum! You go from one battle to battle doing anything you're paid to do and if you fail what 

do you care there's always another job. As long as you get your money and hold onto your power you don't care."

"It's not like that!"

"Like hell it isn't." His eyes drifted towards his Hitai-ate and he remembered something. "Even Konoha has created a Jinchuuriki in its time. Your village created something so strong that they even fear it." The boy stiffened and he knew he had struck a nerve.

"You'd be surprised what I've been able to find out about your so-called hidden villages." He smiled, "you're just mercenaries and there's always one that will sell you out." Using the one arm he could control he slowly drew his wakizashi. The boy took a step back but seemed to realize he meant him no harm. "Now let me show you the difference between a ninja and a samurai." He plunged the wakizashi into his stomach but his hand fell before he could finish the first cut in the ritual of Seppuku.

Naruto stood there for a full minute before realizing the man was dead. He turned to leave, but suddenly felt very tired. His anger had left him as suddenly as it had come and now he just felt empty. He sat on the veranda and it squeaked in protest.

He thought of Hinata but he didn't have that many memories of her. She had been nice, if a bit quiet and a little weird. After a minute he tried to stand up but everything hurt. Gasping in pain he closed his eyes for only a moment of rest.

* * *

Kakashi led his old ANBU team through the second sector and into the third. Their target was the castles keep. It was the center of the castle and historically, this was where a General would direct the battle from. It was eight stories tall and each level was successively smaller than the previous.

The plan was to kill the leader and torch the building. Hopefully this would spread confusion and demoralize the enemy. At least that was the plan. However, since nothing else was going according to plan he had his concerns.

It was going suspiciously well. Until a rocket was shot off from the top of the building paving the ground in a crimson glow. The shadows they were hiding in disappeared and for a horrified second he thought they might have been seen. Fortunately, it didn't take long for the light to die and the protective shadow enfolded them again.

Staying within the shadows they approached the dark side of the building. It troubles him that they would allow any shadows in this area it seemed like a trap. Unfortunately, he couldn't abort the mission on a mere suspicion particularly one of this importance. Of course that didn't mean he couldn't be cautious.

He halted his team and gestured for only Yamato to follow him. The worst-case scenario was they would both die and the remainder of the team would attack the base of the building. It wouldn't guarantee the death of the commander but it should be demoralizing.

The two of them sprinted the last thirty yards as they approached the building something odd started to happen. The keep like most buildings here, covered in small spikes which prevented simple climbing but 

now a peculiar thing started to happen. The wood that supported each roof started to grow just a little. This was thanks to Yamato unique abilities.

Using the new growth they quickly jumped up the side of the building. Fortunately, all the windows were tightly shut as if prepared for a storm. It worked to their advantage there was no chance of them being seen from a window. Of course if anyone looked at the keep right now, they could both be picked off with little effort.

Kakashi paused at the seventh level waiting for Yamato report. The man had a unique talent for manipulating wood which made him ideal for finding out what they would be facing.

Kakashi's earpiece crackled into life, "there are two men in the center of the room in full armor and they are facing opposite directions."

That would be Lord Tenzo and his son. "All right will come in from opposite sides, once we confirm their deaths we will set fire to the building." Moving around to the other side of the building, he drew a kunai that already had an explosive tag attached. The last thing he did was lift his Hitai-ate to reveal his Sharingan.

"Ready… go!" Kakashi jumped the remaining story throwing his kunai at the shutter. The explosion created a hole large enough for him to jump through. He landed on the windowsill and paused because of what he saw with his Sharingan.

Between the dim light of a small oil lamp and the little light that slipped into the shutters he could see that neither of the men had moved. Nor were they even breathing. He shouted that it was a trap but by that time Yamato had already taken two steps into the room.

The floor exploded as hundreds of small steel balls came through the floor shredding anything in their path. Yamato fell lifelessly to the ground.

Glancing down at the floor he saw patterns and knew where the men were. He crashed through what was left of the floor and onto the first samurai. He slipped a kunai into the man's exposed neck severing his carotid artery.

He flung the body into another samurai before drawing another exploding kunai and taking out the third man in the room. He charged the fourth and final man who has had enough time to draw his sword. He stayed low and charged. The man brought the sword down and he blocked it with a kunai. He spun and landed a reverse sidekick that sent the men crashing into the shutters.

He landed blow after blow until the shutters cracked and finally broke sending the man tumbling into the darkness. He turned wanting there to be more enemies but he was the only one left standing in the room. His mission to assassinate Lord Tenzo was a failure but he could still torch the building. Pulling out a specialized exploding note he charged it with enough chakra to give him a few minutes before it blew.

Before he left he took out a mortuary scroll and sealed Yamato body into it for later burial. As he descended the tower burst into flames burning like a torch. The rest of the ANBU team didn't question his lone arrival but all vowed vengeance.

* * *

Things weren't going well Katsuro thought wearily. There had been a handful of attempts to breakout from this trap. Several individual ninjas had tried and each had failed to break the lines. Most notably at least for Kumo was Yugito Nii attempt. She was the current Jinchuriki for the two tail demon cat and while it had failed, it had been impressive.

He had worked with her once before on a mission and that day he had seen Chunin run from her in fear. So, when the samurai had not run in terror as she barreled down at them, he had been impressed. Whether their courage had come from their training or faith in their new weapons he did not know but, they had managed to cut her down before she had gotten within ten feet of them.

Her death would be a blow to Kumogakure. It would take years for the next Jinchuriki to mature and all the time they would be absent their trump card. Well there was nothing he could do about it now. If only she had waited a little longer she could've helped make some holes.

As it stood now there were only three ninjas confident enough to make the holes without the whole building collapsing. That meant if they collapsed the roof on both sides of the building they could clear six quarters. Then they could clear the others by attacking from both sides as long as they weren't chopped to pieces in the meantime.

Now they were just waiting on the gate team. In hindsight they should have send more in but everyone had been thinking there would be another trap. He made a mental note to have his two Genin promoted after this if they were still alive.

The ground shook and his radio crackled to life. "The gate is down go."

A second later the explosive tags went off and the ceiling slid to the side. Katsuro was the first one out of the hole throwing a smoke bomb in front of him. The Kunoichi that landed next to him didn't take advantage of the smoke and paid for it with her life. She darted forward only to be shot from the tower at the end of the corridor.

His group advance quickly throwing smoke bombs in front of themselves for cover. By the time they had reached the end of the corridor they had exhausted their supply and Katsuro had to run under the tower for cover. From there he darted under the next tower whose corridor was still full of samurais.

For the first time tonight something seemed to finally go as planned. The samurais that were blocking the next corridor still had their backs turned to him unaware of the breakthrough. Grinning maliciously his hands formed a Jutsu. A statue of a samurai from the waist up emerged from the ground before rushing towards the densely packed samurais.

It smashed through all four rows sending several samurais flying. The rest were thrown into confusion as they were attacked from the rear. By the time they turned he was already climbing the back of the tower to take out the men up top. Drawing two kunai he made short work of them with a few slashes across their throat and some judicious shelves off of the platform.

Crouching on the side of the cannon he spared a glance down. His distraction had been put to good use. As they turned to face him the formerly trapped ninjas had used a long-range Jutsu to throw them into 

even more confusion and they were now fully engaged into hand-to-hand combat. A second later he heard a cacophony of explosions at what had to be the near simultaneous firing of every single cannon.

The cannonballs struck the wall and ricocheted back at such an angle that they would've killed anyone taking cover behind the buildings. He let out a silent curse and was about to jump to the next tower to try to take it out when he noticed something even worse coming. Along the wall-walk approaching from the rear was almost a hundred samurais coming towards the trapped ninja.

While he was not fully aware of the capabilities of the forbid weapons, he did understand the concept of crossfire. The men in the corridors were just meant to keep them bottled up, the cannons would throw them into confusion and then those approaching samurais would fire down at them. They would be wiped out within a few minutes.

Without much time to think he jumped to the wall walking and using the last chakra he created a stone wall to block their advantage. Unfortunately, he needed to hold it to keep it from falling and by this time he had been spotted by the other towers. One of the samurai took a shot at him and he had to crouch to prevent being hit.

He heard ricochets bouncing off of the stone around him and he didn't think to look up. Although he had halted the samurai's advance it would only prove to be temporarily. The wall was tall and wide enough that no one could get around it, but with a simple boost one was able to get his musket over the wall.

The bullet went into Katsuro's shoulder and continued through his body. He gasped in pain as one of his lungs fill with a liquid. His concentration was broken and the wall fell forward crushing several men. He darted forward into the mass of samurais. Another bullet hit his hip and he fell. His last act was to activate his remaining explosive tags and his last thought was how easy it was. The explosion was spectacular.

The battle continued but at the moment the ninjas had the upper hand. The samurai's lines were broken and the ninjas were able to force their way into the second sector where the terrain was more to their advantage. The samurais took a heavy toll on the ninjas and when the monks who had been waiting in reserve joined the fray the advantage almost swung back to their favor.

Unfortunately, for the samurais the ninja forces managed to link up and reinforcements were pouring in unencumbered. No quarter, nor was it asked for. The samurais took a heavy toll on the coalition of hidden villages. It was a slaughter on both ends and not even the destruction of a hidden village could compare.

The battle ended slowly. Small pockets of resistance formed and were slowly eliminated. The casualties were high for a ninja battle. Nearly one fourth of the attacking force was lost and unlike most battles the casualties were spread evening out over the ranks. Ninjas who would easily take on a half dozen opponents were felled by a lucky shot. The battles repercussions would take years to play out.

* * *

Naruto came back to consciousness not knowing he had lost it. Sitting up he looked around the room. He was in a makeshift hospital not even on a cot. It felt as if it was filled with grass clippings. Looking down the role of other injured ninjas he thought none of them looked too bad.

"You're awake. It's about time," Otonashi's voice came from the side of his bed.

He jumped a little not hearing his approach. "Otonashi," the rest of his sentence was caught in his throat as he remembered what he had been like the last time they had seen each other.

"You're okay, it was just chakra exhaustion. Do you think you can walk?" Naruto nodded wondering when he would mention last night. "Good, you're supposed to go back on one of the earlier convoys but the medics wouldn't release you until you woke up. I'll go get one." Otonashi turned and left the tent.

Naruto frowned Otonashi was acting a bit weird. Was it because of last night, was he scared of him. Something tightened in his chest, Otonashi was a friend and he didn't have many of those. Then he remembered what had sent him into that rage, Hinata.

For a moment he tried to believe she was still alive and just hurt but instinctively he knew it was a lie. The girl had been a bit weird but she had been pretty nice to him the few times they had talked. He should have been able to help her.

Otonashi came back into the tent, "you're good to go. Come on there's a convoy preparing to leave to Konoha and the rest of your team is already there. I'll walk you over." He offered a hand to help him up.

They left the tent in silence and continued into the woods before Otonashi broke the silence. "She was the first in your graduating class to die, wasn't she?"

Naruto paused and looked up at the taller ninja, "yeah, it's weird. I don't know what," he trailed off not on what to say.

Otonashi paused and leaned against a nearby tree. "I would like to say it gets easier but it doesn't. A few months after my class graduated one of my classmates died on their first C ranked mission. The convoy he was guarding was ambushed he probably didn't know what hit him."

He shrugged and looked down, "it was weird. We were not really friends or anything but I was used to seeing him when we got our missions and stuff. You just sort of get used to it." He laughed suddenly, "I guess that didn't help you but for what it's worth I know everyone on your team made it out fine. Unlike me no one seen my sensei and I still can't find one of my teammates."

"Shiori?" He couldn't conceal his surprise. He didn't really know her that well but her and Sakura seem to have been getting along.

"No no, she's fine. It's the third one on our team you never met him."

"Oh sorry," he felt a little embarrassed. Otonashi was probably just worried about his teammates and that was why he was acting a bit strange.

They continued walking toward before Otonashi spoke up again. "So, it's the nine tail fox inside of you right?

A chill went up Naruto spine as the one thing he didn't want Otonashi to know was spoken out loud. He turned slowly half expecting to see the familiar look of hatred on his friend's face. To his surprise he seemed to be just waiting for the answer. He nodded slowly and was barely able to get out, "How".

Otonashi smiled, "I would like to say I linked together a series of small clues that led me to that conclusion but, I'd be lying. I've pretty much known since we first sparred and I threw that cayenne pepper in your eyes. You see I sort of met Kumo Jinchuuriki once when she was angry. You have the same eyes."

Oddly he thought of Gaara. He knew there were more people out there like him and that made him sad. The fact that others had been just as alone as he had was not a comforting thought and he didn't want to go back to that. "Nobody knows."

"That's good. I've heard some villages are pretty rough on their Jinchuuriki. It's not like that in Kumo. We see it as a Kekkei Genkai. It's the only one the village has and their family's pretty rich now."

For a minute Naruto imagined himself as popular as Sasuke and the thought brought a grinned to his face. He was just imagining Sakura obsessing over him like she did with Sasuke when Otonashi broke into his thoughts. "So, why don't you defect?"

He laughed at first but Otonashi didn't join in. "Serious?"

"We call it pulling the teeth of the tiger or something like that. My village recruits promising ninjas with a grudge against their village and they come and work for us. It takes a while but eventually their trusted. Our current second-in-command was originally from Iwa so you can pretty much accomplish anything."

For a minute he considered the offer. It would be nice to be treated like everyone else even now he still receives the occasional hate filled glare but those were becoming fewer and fewer. If he had been offered this back when Iruka seem to be the only person who cared about him, he might've taken it but even then he doubted it.

It would be too much like giving up and he would never do that. Besides things were a lot better for him now than even a year ago, he had friends now. "Thanks Otonashi but, Konoha is my home."

Otonashi smiled weakly, "I was afraid you're going to say that. You see Jinchuuriki are kind of special. We like to maintain a monopoly on them." Unconsciously Naruto hands drifted to his weapons. "Relax if I was going to kill you I wouldn't have given you your weapons back in the tent. It's just if you ever see me again be careful it could be an assassin in disguise."

Otonashi glanced over his shoulder suddenly. "One more thing, I didn't technically have permission to take you out of the hospital. You may be in a bit of trouble. On the bright side Sakura seemed really worried about you when you were out. Take care." With that Otonashi disappeared into the trees leaving Naruto alone and a bit confused.

Someone landed next to him a few seconds later. "Idiot why did you wander off everyone's looking for you. Come on you're holding up the convoy."


	24. epilogue

In the depths of Kumogakure the Raikage sat with the initial list of casualties from the battle. It was too long for his taste but for right now there was only one name that had his attention. The man he had chosen to be his successor and would keep his village from descending into civil war was dead.

Looking up from the paper he tried to comfort the old man across from him. "You didn't fail him. He died well and victory may not have been possible without his sacrifice."

The old man didn't seem to hear him at first but eventually he looked up. "I have trained only six students in my life and I've buried four of them. No teacher wants that."

"You trained them all well, nobody can fault you. Get some sleep and find out when the next Jinchuuriki will be ready tomorrow morning." He knew his friend would beat himself up over his former students' death but he needed his full attention when he was here.

Once he had left he pulled out a map from his desk. It was not the typical political map with the borders of the countries drawn in but instead it showed each village's sphere of influence. There were many reasons why one village would receive a job over another but it more or less boiled down to geographical convenience and price and that was with this map reflected.

Until recently it had been stable. However, given recent events that would be changing. The Mist could no longer be considered a great power. They had lost too many ninjas and would have to rebuild their home. They would lose territory as a consequence and the Leaf and his own village would be in the best position to take advantage of the situation.

Normally, this would be the status quo. One village stumbles and another picks up the slack, but this small detail fed the bigger problem. Grass and Rain were historic enemies even though they were allies now. They would remain so unless something changed and it had. Kemurigakure had been destroyed and the resulting fire had caused devastation to the Grass country.

They could use this as an excuse to attack Rain or Rain could attack Grass on the premise they were preparing for an attack. The two would fight themselves to a standstill unless there was an outside interference and Iwa would be all too happy to back one or the other. Not that they much cared about either of the villages but it would give them a pretext to attack and destroy Konoha, a long-term goal of theirs.

The only problem with that plan was that the last time those two villages had fought during the last war it had been a standstill. Which would be fine except for by the time all this played out he would be dead and if he didn't nominate a member of the anti Konoha faction within his village there would be a real chance of a coup and possibly civil war.

This meant that Cloud would join in on Rock's attack on the Leaf. With an expansionist Iwa and a vengeful Kumo Konoha would most likely fall. If Sand came to their ally's aid they would most likely fall too. The Mist would be more than happy to regain some lost territory and the smaller villages would side with the winners.

While at first being one of two great nations seemed ideal there was a problem. The two would end up circling each other like tigers waiting for the other to stumble and become the one supreme power. The 

smaller hidden villages would wait for the two superpowers to collide so that they could feed off the loser's corpse.

For the next hour he played out scenarios in his mind and none were particularly appealing. He would have to change the rules if he wanted his village to survive. There were three factions in his village; the anti-Konoha faction was the faction that had been in power before his coup. Then there was his faction which wasn't exactly pro-Konoha but had ended the last war. The largest faction was the neutrals. They simply wanted their village to prosper.

The key was to convince that faction that Konoha should be an ally and for that they would need a common enemy. His eyes searched the map before he realized the obvious choice. It was the Village of Sound. They had gained no respect for their lack of participation in putting down the little uprising they had just faced and they were in a rather inconvenient spot cutting into their business like that.

It was that simple for him. Sacrifice one small village to insure a larger piece. The trick would be doing it in secret so his enemies would not catch wind of his plan. As he rolled up the map he mused about the irony of it all. To have peace they would first have to have a war.

* * *

"Permission denied." There were not many things that Tsunade liked about her new job, but seeing the look on Jiraiya's face just now almost made it worth all the work.

"What! Naruto needs more training to defend himself from the Akatsuki and I know they won't go after him for at least two years."

In response she crumpled a piece of paper that was on her desk and threw at him. "Read it."

Jiraiya took longer than necessary to read it before looking up and said, "It's that bad?"

"We are at fifty percent of our strength pre-Sand Sound war. Not only do we have to keep up with the missions that are coming in but we have to take down what's left of the monk's intelligent network. That's not to mention our little problem with Sound and there are reports that those fishing ships are showing up along the coastlines abandoned. I don't even know what that could mean."

"Still, early graduations are not going to help much and we will pay for it in the end. Besides, I thought we had a decrease in missions because of all that anti-ninja stuff."

"That dissipated rather fast particularly where were involved. As for the early graduations thing, one of the teachers says they have an alternative plan but I haven't seen it yet. That doesn't change the fact that we need as many ninjas on-duty as possible. So, unless you are willing to stay here and train him I can't allow it."

Pausing for a minute he eventually said, "what if he gave him a reduced load? He could still do missions but the rest of the time he'd be mine."

"That would be acceptable if he agreed." She smiled and leaned back in her chair. It was always good to let Jiraiya come up with the ideas or at least let him think so.

* * *

Two men in black cloaks with red clouds on them walked down an overgrown path. Normally, neither of these men showed much emotion but the taller of the two was finding it hard to hide his amusement at his smaller companions attempt to conceal his anger.

Itachi was not emotional but when things did not go according to his plans he was not pleased. Zetsu had just delivered two pieces of information that put his personal plans in jeopardy. The first was Sasuke had moved back in to the Uchiha district. The second piece of information was even more annoying.

There was another Sharingan user running around and his little brother was training him. It was vexing that he had missed one of those weaklings, even if he was just a bastard. Of course the only reason any of this had come to his attention was because his little brother had passed up an opportunity to be trained by Orochimaru.

In short he was getting distracted. Itachi needed his brother to chase after him. His brother had to obtain the same eyes he had. There was no way around it he would have to pay a little visit to his brother again.

* * *

Authors note: (warning shameless self promotion begins here) yes there is going to be a sequel. Before that I want to touch this thing up a little. No big changes to the plot but I am going to try to improve the fight scenes and a few other things here and there. I'm going to write a story for the sole purpose of improving my fight scenes and another for character development. I hope you'll check out the two stories I plan to write in the meantime. (Shameless self-promotion ends here)

Thank you to all who have reviewed and thanks all for reading.


End file.
